The Miami Dolphins‘ don’t exactly have an Indeed or LinkedIn listing up for their general manager vacancy, but the entire league knows that this franchise is hiring. Miami needs a new lead man at the top of their football operation — someone to run the personnel department and the “talent identification & acquisition” portions of the team. They’ll begin their formal interview process next week upon completion of the regular season, with no shortage of viable candidates who could fill the role.

The best thing going for Miami right now? They’re currently the only vacancy in the league. There is no other current competition for a hire. That will, most likely, change. But in the meantime, the Dolphins will have had a head start on exploring candidates.

We’ll spend the next few days getting to know some of the most popular names across the landscape before the official interview window opens. One such candidate to know is Philadelphia Eagles assistant general manager Alec Halaby — one of the buzziest names to be ‘next’. Here are five things Dolphins fans should know about this potential general manager candidate as Miami prepares to start seeking out formal interviews next week.

Five things Dolphins fans should know about general manager candidate & Philadelphia Eagles assistant general manager Alec Halaby

1. Ivy League Background

Halaby is a graduate of Harvard — he attended the school from 2005 through 2009 while studying English and a minor in Economics. His educational background sets the foundation for Halaby’s approach to the business of the NFL, as he is reportedly a champion of advanced data-driven decision making. Given the attraction and draw the Dolphins felt to current head coach Mike McDaniel and McDaniel’s Ivy League background at Yale, it isn’t a stretch to envision Halaby’s roots being considered a plus.

2. Untraditional Start In The NFL

Most general manager candidates with football operation roots are historically career scouts. That movement has shifted as of late, but even for new standards, Halaby’s roots are unorthodox. Halaby got his start in the NFL with a response from the Eagles organization while working with ‘Football Outsiders’. Halaby credits Eagles general manager Howie Roseman for his start, as Halaby took internships with the organization in 2007 and again in 2009. His first full-time role came in 2010 as a player personnel analyst, then in 2012 was given the title of ‘Special assistant to the general manager’.

3. Howie Roseman’s Right-Hand Man

Halaby has worked closely with Roseman throughout his entire NFL career. He’s an Eagles lifer (so far) who has held the title of ‘Assistant general manager’ under Roseman since 2022. In one example of his many roles underneath Roseman, Halaby has been a part of draft weekends as a key presence in preparations in real-time for how the board unfolds.

“The main role (on draft weekend) is talking through scenarios. At any given point, you’re thinking there’s three options: do you want to move up, do you want to stay put, do you want to move back? And then, related to that, is you have your own preferences about players. The league has their own preferences about players — so how do those two things interact…I think the main thing I work is work with Howie on football decisions. So, at a high level, what are our priorities going to be, and then how do we translate those priorities into actual decisions? Into player acquisition, into trades, free agency, the draft, things like that,” said Halaby back in 2019.

4. Analytically & Data Driven

Halaby’s economic and analytical roots are a hallmark of his roles in Philadelphia. But it is worth mentioning that while Halaby is on the front line of general manager candidates who use a “data driven” approach, he does not regard it disproportionately to traditional evaluations.

“I would say the approach is really a full-information approach, see the player from multiple angles,” Halaby said to Sheil Kapada of Philly Mag over a decade ago. “Traditional methods where you’re watching tape, you’re interviewing, your off the field issues. And then part of that is the analytical method. So that’s the more data-driven part, focuses on trying to understand the player in a systematic way usually within a quantitative framework. And so you try to bring both of those together and see it from the different angles and put a value on them and project them for the future…I think there’s not a holy grail or a magic bullet or a single play or a single number that’s gonna answer the question. It’s more of trying to get a 360-degree idea, get all the angles.”

5. Has Interviewed For Multiple Vacancies In Recent Years

Halaby interviewed for both the Carolina Panthers and the Washington Commanders general manager vacancies in 2024. The Panthers job ultimately went to Dan Morgan, who played for the Panthers organization for 6 seasons and was already employed by the team as their Assistant general manager. Washington opted to hire Adam Peters from San Francisco as their general manager.

In 2025, Halaby interviewed for the New York Jets vacancy as a part of an exhaustive search that culminated with the hiring of Darren Mougey, a life-long Broncos front office personality, amid the glow up of Denver under Sean Payton. Halaby is once again expected to be a prominent name for any vacancies in 2026.

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