Marcel Louis-JacquesJan 22, 2026, 02:05 PM ETCloseMarcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.Follow on X
Dolphins hire Jeff Hafley as new head coach (0:42)Marcel Louis-Jacques reports on the Dolphins hiring Jeff Hafley as their new head coach. (0:42)
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has a plan for the team’s quarterbacks moving forward, but there’s “too much work to do” before a decision is made for this coming season.
Sullivan complimented quarterback Tua Tagovailoa during his introductory news conference Thursday with head coach Jeff Hafley but also acknowledged that the position was something they had to figure out.
Critically, he insisted Miami’s priority was making sure it has the proper infrastructure in place for whenever they “find our guy.”
“So yes, we will find our guy, but we’re going to make sure that we’re building the infrastructure along the way so when we do find our trigger man — whoever that may be, whether it’s Tua, Quinn [Ewers] or somebody that’s not in the building — we have a team that he can go play and win with.”
Tagovailoa was benched for the rookie Ewers with three games remaining in the 2025 season, after throwing a career-high 15 interceptions while failing to eclipse 200 passing yards in eight of the 14 games he played.
After the season, Tagovailoa suggested he was open to a fresh start with a new team; he signed a four-year $212.4 million extension in July 2024 that kicked in this past season.
The Dolphins would take a $99 million dead cap hit if they release Tagovailoa before June 1; that number drops to $67.4 million if done after June 1, with an additional $31.8 million dead cap hit in 2027.
Sullivan acknowledged the Dolphins’ quarterback situation was “a huge question looming over the organization” but added that his time with the Green Bay Packers taught him how to handle the position.
“The quarterback position is the most important position in sports, in my opinion. Certainly the most important position in football. We’re going to invest in that position every year if we can. Now, depending on where we are as a football team, it’ll be at different values. But we will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year, because I think you have to. If you hit on a guy, great, and if not, if you hit on two, you have trade value.
Whichever quarterback is in place in 2026 will run an offense based around a physical run game, Hafley said.
The Dolphins’ new coach said he’ll hire an offensive coordinator and build an offensive philosophy that borrows elements from things that challenged him as a defensive coordinator.
“That’s really important to me and I have a plan in place with potential hires that will allow me to be the head coach in the offseason,” he said. “Kind of like how I watched Kyle Shanahan do it and kind of like how I watched Matt [LaFleur] do it in Green Bay — but I am going to call plays. It’s really important to me. It’s something that I love to do. It really connects me with that group.
“I think we’ll bring a lot of energy to that side of the football, and I think the details will be exactly how I want them early on as we go, offense and defense, schematically speaking — it’s all going to start with fundamentals and technique to me.”
Dolphins hire Jeff Hafley as new head coach (0:42)Marcel Louis-Jacques reports on the Dolphins hiring Jeff Hafley as their new head coach. (0:42)
CloseMarcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.Follow on X
Marcel Louis-Jacques reports on the Dolphins hiring Jeff Hafley as their new head coach. (0:42)