The Miami Dolphins signed Malik Willis to a three-year contract in the hope that he could be both their short- and long-term answer at the most important position in sports.
It’s not clear anymore that Willis will make it to the end of that deal as the Dolphins’ starting QB.
The depressing reality setting in for Miami is that it’s already in question after just five games.
But the Dolphins wake up Monday morning at 0-5. They’ve been close in a couple games, and Willis has made some decent plays, but they haven’t been able to get a win yet.
They’re certainly trending toward picking very high in the 2027 NFL Draft, where they’ll have to decide between Ohio State superstar WR Jeremiah Smith — a Miami-native — or one of the quarterbacks on the board.
Even if they don’t pick a QB, though, it’s not a given at this point that Willis will be around for the long haul.
Miami may ride it out while they don’t have another choice. But the more Willis struggles, the more they’ll have to consider what comes next, and potentially move the timeline up for finding that.
Malik Willis Future
The reality is that the Dolphins can’t put too many of their eggs into Willis’ basket, because at the moment, he’s not even throwing them to guys in Miami jerseys.
On Sunday against the Bengals, Willis started the day horribly. He completed just 1 of his first 7 passes, a 22-yarder to Jalen Tolbert.
He did throw 2 of those first 7 passes to the other team, though. Jordan Battle twice intercepted Willis in the first half.
It’s one thing for a QB who is making consistent plays down the field to throw interceptions. It’s another thing for a guy who is already struggling to move the ball.
Willis hasn’t yet looked like a guy who the Dolphins can see improving over the course of this season into a sure-fire starting quarterback for next season.
Miami has also shown in recent years that it doesn’t mind moving off a contract it doesn’t like — and Willis would be a lot cheaper to discard than Tua Tagovailoa was.
One Dilemma
There’s really only one thing that the Dolphins will have to think long and hard about: Have they given Willis a real chance?
They have the least-experienced WR depth chart in the entire NFL. Their offense was going to rely heavily on De’Von Achane at RB until he tore his ACL. Willis isn’t operating with high-level players around him.
Would a partnership with a player like Smith fix a lot of the woes for Willis? That’s what Miami is going to have to answer.
The last thing they’d want is to draft Smith and then stunt his development if Willis wasn’t good enough. But they’d also not want to give up on Willis too early before realizing he would’ve worked well with Smith.
This isn’t a situation that will easily resolve itself. Miami just moved on from its long-term QB to end up at Willis in the first place. But the more he struggles, the more likely it is that his time with the Dolphins is already running shorter than hoped.
Dolphins May Part Ways With Malik Willis Before Contract Ends