Marcel Louis-JacquesMar 18, 2026, 06:00 AM ET
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- At his first NFL combine as the Miami Dolphins general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan was repeatedly asked about the state of his roster and the likely possibility of a rebuild starting this season.
During his podium session, he was asked about trading or releasing star players to make the team more salary compliant; Sullivan didn't shut down the idea.
"I think the right way to approach that is, there are players that we see as building blocks as we move down the road," he said. "My job as the general manager is if the phone rings, I have to listen. Any player is tradeable at a certain price, but there are certain guys that we definitely want to be part of the long-term future that are on this roster currently that we think are the right kind of guys."
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While Sullivan was complimentary of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in conversations with local media this offseason, ultimately he received the right offer for the player.
Miami traded Waddle and a fourth-round pick to the Denver Broncos on Monday, in exchange for first-, third- and fourth-round picks, league sources confirmed to ESPN. The haul brings the Dolphins' total to seven picks in the first three rounds of the draft and 11 overall.
In the past month, Miami has moved on from most of the remaining core members of the teams led by former head coach Mike McDaniel, who was fired after the season. It released QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill and DE Bradley Chubb and traded S Minkah Fitzpatrick and now Waddle for draft picks. Sullivan was hesitant to call the team's project a rebuild, but with their new allotment of draft picks, it's clear the Dolphins are leaning into the draft and building a new core.
Sullivan said his goal is to build this team by drafting, developing and re-signing their own players; he won't have much choice but to build through the draft with Miami on the hook for $175 million in dead cap this season.
One reporter at Sullivan's podium session in Indianapolis asked how he believes he can replicate the success of the aforementioned Broncos, who absorbed a historic dead cap hit by releasing quarterback Russell Wilson in 2024 but have made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since.
"It's my job to be very creative and aggressive in how we use our picks, then our undrafted free agency process, then the 53 cut and then practice squad steals," he said. "We've got to build this thing out, but we have to build it out so that it's sustainable over time. You can't do that overnight."
Malik Willis figures to be QB1 in Miami, but who he'll throw passes to is anybody's guess. Jim Rassol/Associated Press
It's easy, in theory, to trade players for draft picks; hitting on those picks is a different story, and Miami still has several positions of need.
The Dolphins haven't been big spenders in free agency, dishing out a series of one-year contracts through the first week of the new league year. Their biggest move was signing quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year contract worth $67.5 million, but there isn't much around him in terms of playmakers.
Without Waddle, the Dolphins wide receivers room lacks a proven No. 1 or even No. 2 option. Also, despite signing Joshua Uche and David Ojabo last week, Miami's pass rush still needs a reliable producer outside of Chop Robinson.
The Dolphins will also need to address the cornerback and safety positions and add depth to their offensive line with their arsenal of draft picks. Most importantly, however, they'll have to identify players who represent the culture that Sullivan and first-year coach Jeff Hafley are looking to instill.
"We will draft, develop and retain our own," Sullivan said during his introductory news conference. "There are things that come with that; No. 1 is culture. When you raise your own, people are vested, they're bought in. There's a financial component to it with rookie contracts, it keeps you in a healthy cap situation. But the most important thing is the culture piece of it. Free agency, we will be very intentional and deliberate how we move about that.
"But we'll be disciplined, we'll be intentional, and we will chase difference makers that add value to the field immediately but also add value to our locker room in terms of the kind of culture that we want to build."