Jon-Eric Sullivan has now been the general manager of the Miami Dolphins for over two months. During that time, he has made moves that have sent shockwaves to Dolphins fans. He has cut Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and Bradley Chubb, and most recently traded Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. Sullivan has made a point to tear it down and build the team how he wants it.
In his numerous interviews since joining the team, Sullivan has outlined his blueprint for building the team. Words can only go so far, but as of now, He is following his core philosophies when it comes to constructing the roster.
In the opening press conference for Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, Sullivan was asked where it first starts when it comes to roster construction. After acquiring Malik Willis as their first big move in free agency, there was a lot of confusion. That should not have been the case, as anyone who listened to the Q&A knew how Sullivan would operate.
“I think obviously it always starts with the quarterback. Anybody that’s in this business will tell you that, but we’ll build this from the inside out.”
Sullivan made it clear that Tagovailoa was no longer the guy to lead this team to long-term success and cut bait. Even if it meant resulting in the biggest cap hit in NFL history at $99 million, the message was sent that this new regime wanted someone else at the helm.
The domino effect that followed was the Dolphins signing Willis to a three-year contract. Sullivan and Hafley had a close view of seeing the growth of Willis, who showed vast improvement in his game with the Green Bay Packers. Although this might not be what saves the franchise, Sullivan locked down someone who he thinks can produce at the most important position in the league.
Since then, the Dolphins have made no splashes in large part due to having a large amount dead money on their books.
Even if they had cap space, Sullivan made it a key point that he wants to build the team through the draft.
Following the Waddle trade, Miami now has seven picks in the top 100 of this upcoming NFL Draft, including two first-round picks.
Knowing that this roster is being reconstructed in a massive way, having this many draft picks is exactly what Sullivan wants. In an interview with Travis Wingfield, Sullivan stated how the roster will be built.
“We’re going to draft and develop and retain our own,” he said. “It’s important to us that we raise our own because that’s culture, right? We don’t want a team full of mercenaries.”
There was a collection of Dolphins fans who were outraged at trading Waddle, given that he was drafted by Miami. That being said, he was not a Sullivan pick, and he will be 28 in November.
Waddle’s infectious personality and production on the field makes this trade sting. Still and all, given the draft picks Miami received in return, it was a necessary move to make. As stated before, Sullivan let his intentions be known, and fans should have been prepared for tough trades to be made.
The Dolphins currently have only one player over 28, and that’s Zach Sieler at 30 years old. Sullivan wants to have young players on cost-controlled deals to get out of the mess that former general manager Chris Grier gave him.
Once all of the money is off the books, the skies will become much clearer in Miami who will have much more freedom when it comes to making moves.
Anyone who understands the current situation Miami is in knows this will take a long time to get to where they want to be. It’s understandable for fans to be sick of always undergoing change, but getting a brand-new regime was absolutely necessary given how everything unraveled from the top down.
Despite that, it’s refreshing to see that so far, Sullivan is following what he believes in and is not stirring fans in different directions. Granted, it’s still very early, and this will only pay off if the Dolphins hit on their draft picks.
With the war chest of draft picks at their disposal, Miami has the ammunition to hit on players that can make this roster strong. Once April rolls around, the Dolphins will have to execute and show they can build a team the right way by hitting on a majority of their draft selections.
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