The Miami Dolphins’ new brass has done a lot in a short amount of time since taking over the leadership of the franchise after the end of the 2025 season. They made the difficult decisions to trade Jaylen Waddle and Minkah Fitzpatrick, the financially painful one to release Tua Tagovailoa, and the inevitable one of parting ways with Tyreek Hill, among others.

With little room to work and plenty of holes to fill, the team has done what it can to field as competitive a roster as it can for 2026, and that’s included some shrewd moves, like signing former Eagles EDGE Josh Uche on a one-year deal. The Dolphins also landed their QB of the near future in Malik Willis.

So, where does the Dolphins’ offseason rank in the NFL pantheon? According to ESPN writer Ben Solak, near the bottom. Solak ranked the Dolphins’ free agency moves as 31st in the league, which feels a bit harsh under the circumstances. And he had particular distain for Willis’ contract structure.

ESPN’s Ben Solak criticized structure of Dolphins’ deal with QB Malik Willis

Solek had a curious introduction by what he said about what he loved about the Dolphins’ free agency moves, noting their “willingness to try stuff”.

“I loved: The willingness to try stuff. The Dolphins signed an enormous number of one-year deals to fill the staggering gaps in their roster. Players such as Baker, Uche, Atwell and Johnson have all had flashes of starting-caliber play and at the very least can fill a rotation acceptably. Over 60% of Miami’s cap space in 2026 is tied up in dead money for its outgoing deals, so the plan this season was always to give fliers on smaller deals an opportunity to win jobs beyond 2026.”

I’m not sure it’s necessarily a willingness to try stuff when it comes down to their moves. The Dolphins were in cap hell coming into free agency thanks in large part to — as Solak notes — their staggering amount of dead money, and it’s hard to get more than guys with limited success in situational or reserve roles or otherwise guys who can be had for relatively cheap on one-year deals. That was perhaps necessity rather than willingness.

But it’s hard for me to understand where Solak was going regarding the Dolphins’ signing of Willis, which, again, was his biggest knock.

“I didn’t love: The Willis deal (in the above context). On paper, there’s nothing wrong with Willis’ contract. He has a three-year deal with $45 million guaranteed. But the Dolphins, who are presumably OK with being very bad in 2026, have guaranteed all of Willis’ $21.5 million salary in 2027. Essentially, they’re promising him a spot to compete for that starting job in 2027, no matter how bad he looks in 2026.”

First, Willis was one of the top quarterback options on the market this offseason, given the interest in him around the league. NFL insider Ian Rapoport had projected him at $30-35 million per season, and the Dolphins got him for a fraction of that at 3 years, $67.5 million ($22.5 AAV). Some guarantees were going to have to be made in that position.

And with just Quinn Ewers on the roster as a potential starting candidate, what else where they going to do? Trade for a player like Eagles backup Tanner McKee or sign a veteran like Tyrod Taylor and just go into full tank mode? Or try to find someone like they did that’s actually a potential solution for the short term and the future?

In the event Willis flops in 2026 as a starter, he’s proven to be a capable backup, and thus would give the Dolphins an option there (even if an expensive one) if they really struggle and fall into position to draft a franchise quarterback next year. Either way, the ceiling is significantly higher in the QB room with Willis there than if they didn’t have him.