Three takeaways from Jeff Hafley’s first press conference with the Dolphins.
The Dolphins introduced new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley for the first time on Thursday, setting the stage for a new era in Miami. Sullivan and Hafley will each be working as NFL general manager and head coach, respectively, for the first time after coming from the Packers.
Sullivan has spent the last 21 years in Green Bay’s front office, most recently serving as the team’s vice president of player personnel before being tabbed as Miami’s next general manager. Hafley joins the Dolphins after serving as the Packers’ defensive coordinator over the past two years. Now, Sullivan and Hafley take over a Miami organization that has not won a playoff game since 2000. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who took over the franchise in ‘09, began the press conferencehe feels toward the Dolphins’ lack of success, and his plans to turn the results around with their new general manager and coach at the helm. As the Dolphins start a new chapter, here are three takeaways from Sullivan and Hafley’s first comments with the organization.One of the top questions surrounding the Dolphins is the quarterback position. Tua Tagovailoa was benched toward the end of the 2025 season and Quinn Ewers closed out the season as the starter, but Sullivan and Hafley did not commit to moving on from or starting either quarterback going forward.. “I have a lot of respect for Tua, he’s a good player who has accomplished a lot in this league. Quarterback is the most important position in any sport. To sit up here today and tell you we have an understanding of which direction we’re going to go would be a lie, there’s just too much work to do.” Perhaps more importantly, Sullivan emphasized that they do not want to build “irresponsibly” around their quarterback and want to make sure their next signal-caller has the weapon and support around him. “We’ll build this from the inside out,” Sullivan said. “I think you have to make sure your line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball is big, tough, resilient and that there’s depth so that you can survive injuries. ... We need to get the quarterback situation in place, but we’re not going to do it in an irresponsible manner where we sacrifice building the infrastructure of this football team, so when we do find our guy, he can be successful.” After coming from an organization in Green Bay that preemptively added their successor at quarterback, Sullivan plans to remain active in acquiring quarterbacks, whether finding the next starter or backups that provide trade value. “We’re going to invest in that position every year if we can,” Sullivan said. “... We will draft quarterbacks every year, if not every other year because I think you have to.”As for how the Dolphins plan to surround their quarterback with talent, Sullivan plans to primarily build through the draft. The Dolphins will be over $30 million below the cap in 2026, and Miami plans to use most of its resources to keep its top drafted players as Dolphins. “We will be a draft and develop philosophy,” Sullivan said. “We will draft and develop and retain our own. There are things that come with that, culture.” Sullivan continued, “When you raise your own, people are invested, they’re bought in. There’s a financial element. It keeps you in a healthy cap situation. We will be very intentional and deliberate in free agency. We will utilize it when we get to a healthy cap situation. We will chase difference makers that add value to the field immediately but also to the locker room in terms of the culture we want to build.” In terms of free agency, Sullivan plan to be “selective” with the players they sign. “We’re not just checking boxes so that we can look busy, we’re intentional about the caliber of the player and then what they bring to the locker room,” Sullivan said.Hafley announced that he will continue calling plays on the defensive side of the ball in Miami, following in the footsteps of Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur, who called offensive plays as head coaches when Hafley worked under them. Hafley still needs to hire an offensive coordinator. He wants an offense that can run under-center, excel in the screen game and produce explosive plays—the things that give him trouble as a defensive play-caller. Hafley added of his offensive philosophy, “There’s certain core beliefs that I do believe in, like running the ball and being really physical up front so when they know we’re gonna run the ball, we’re still gonna run it well.”Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.
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