Miami Dolphins
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Malik Willis shared his feelings after signing with the Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins hope they have found their new franchise quarterback after agreeing to athree-year deal with free agent quarterback Malik Willis. The news came after Miami announced it had informed former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that they would be releasing him.
Willis will join a quarterback room that includes Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller. Ewers replaced Tagovailoa for the final three games of the season. Meanwhile, Miller signed with the Dolphins prior to their final regular-season game, as he spent the majority of the season on the Raiders’ practice squad.
Head coach Jeff Hafley had previously stated the team would have a quarterback competition, but with Willis’ contract including $45 million guaranteed, it would be a surprise if Willis was not named the starter ahead of the 2026 regular season. Now, Willis has made his first public comments since news broke of his agreement with the Dolphins.
Malik Willis Shares True Feelings About Joining the Miami Dolphins
Shortly after the news of Willis agreeing to a three-year, $67.5 million contract with the Dolphins broke,Willis appeared on The Pat McAfee show. McAfee asked him to share his feelings after agreeing to the contract. Willis said, “(I’m) super excited to be down there. Guys I know, Hafley and Sully (Jon-Eric Sullivan), I’m real familiar with those guys. Excited go to work and do something special. It’s a blessing”
Willis added, “I’m just trying to go down there and do what I can to help them, and that’s taking it one day at a time, putting the work in and seeing where the chips fall.”
When asked about potentially being the Dolphins’ franchise quarterback, Willis said, “All you can do is be genuine yourself, and do what you can to put everything that you have on the table. All you can do is do your part, you know, hold guys accountable as well as hold yourself accountable.”
Finally, Willis was asked about the reason behind him having success during the 2025 season after struggling earlier in his career. He responded saying, “In all reality, it’s the first time being in a system for more than a year since I’ve been in the league. So I felt that much more comfortable being able to go out there and just do whatever it takes to get the job done. It was just great having that familiarity.”
Opinions on Signing
The news of Miami signing Willis has been met with different opinions across the NFL. ESPN analystBenjamin Solak appeared excited about Willis joining Miami as he posted on X, “Achane + Malik Willis is so, so, so cool.”
However, there has also been plenty of negative feedback on the signing. Former offensive linemanGeoff Schwartz posted on X, “Just do not believe this will be successful.Becoming a first time starter in year 5. Hasn’t thrown more than 61 passes in a season. This would be an extreme outlier if he was any good for a long stretch during this contract.”
Fortunately, the Dolphins’ key decision-makers are familiar and more insight into Willis than just his few NFL games. General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan hadpreviously praised Willis, saying,“I think I’d be lying to you – any team that is in a needy QB situation, if they tell you they’re not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie… a lot of like for the human being, he’s a great kid.”