Jon-Eric

Sullivan

Sullivan said the goal in the coming years is to put together a roster of players who can win in Buffalo, New York, and New England in the second half of the season. The Dolphins, practicing and living in Miami, have traditionally been a miserable cold-weather team, leading to a number of late-season collapses going back to the Marino era. Sullivan’s comments echo newly hired head coach Jeff Sullivan, who reportedly wants to ditch the team’s emphasis on speed for size and physicality. “Our division runs through Buffalo and New England and New York, cold-weather places,” Sullivan said. “There’s a saying in our business, fast gets slow but big doesn’t get small. We’re not going to sacrifice speed and explosion and skill for a bunch of big stiff guys, but we’re going to have substance to us at all levels of our team. At corner, at receiver, at running back, and certainly up front. It starts with the quarterback, and then we’ll build this team from the inside out. We’ve got to be dominant on the offensive line, dominant on the defensive line.”

One day after firing head coach Mike McDaniel, the Dolphins made another major move in adding Sullivan as the general manager. The Packers’ VP of player personnel since 2022, Sullivan joined Green Bay as an intern in 2003 and worked his way up through various positions, which include a scouting background. Sullivan has stated in interviews how important it is to build through the draft, an approach that likely makes the most sense for this Dolphins rebuild. He is the son of Jerry Sullivan, who spent 25 years as an NFL coach, mostly coaching wide receivers.

Alexander has close ties to former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, which could give him an edge with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer deserves credit for his reporting late last week, when he identified Sullivan as a candidate for the job in Miami. Per Breer, the Dolphins are expected to “have three guys atop the football side—the head coach, the new GM and [senior vice president of football and business administration Brandon] Shore.” He believes the team is seeking a general manager “with a strong player-evaluation background” to complete the trio.

The Dolphins will interview Chargers assistant general manager Chad Alexander, Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams and their own interim general managers Champ Kelly for their open general manager position. The Dolphins are moving quickly towards finding their new general manager, beginning the second phase of the interview process by bringing in these four candidates in-person. Mike McDaniel is still the head coach but it is possible the general manager hire changes things with John Harbaugh also on the coaching market.

They also requested permission to talk to Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, 49ers vice president of player personnel Tariq Ahmad, and Rams assistant GM John McKay. The fact that there are two 49ers-linked candidates on that list is probably good news for Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel on Black Monday. Halaby had interview requests from the Panthers and Jets the past two seasons.

The Dolphins are apparently restructuring certain roles in their front office and are expected to “have three guys atop the football side—the head coach, the new GM and [senior vice president of football and business administration Brandon] Shore.” Shore is reportedly being “transitioned into an elevated role.” Breer believes the Dolphins are searching for a general manager “with a strong player-evaluation background” to complete the trio. Sullivan fits the bill, having come up “on the scouting side under the late Ted Thompson.” Breer also names the 49ers’ Williams as an option, if team owner Stephen Ross chooses to keep head coach Mike McDaniel, due to Williams and McDaniel’s “standing relationship.”

According to Walters, those candidates include Josh Williams and James Gladstone, who are directors of scouting for the 49ers and Rams, respectively. Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham is also a finalist, as is Packers’ VP of player personnel, Jon-Eric Sullivan. Perhaps the most interesting finalist on this list is Jaguars interim GM Ethan Waugh, who has familiarity with those in the building but also worked closely with former GM Trent Baalke, whose firing appeared to have a direct impact on head coach Liam Coen’s willingness to join the team. Walters reports the Jaguars are expected to make a decision on GM by the end of the week.

Sullivan has interviewed with the Jets and Titans while also drawing interest from the Raiders. The Packers’ VP of player personnel is understandably in demand, given his team’s successes in building a talented NFC North contender.

It’s the second time that Sullivan has interviewed for the position. He’s also interviewed for the Jets’ gig, and is widely viewed as a rising star in the industry. It will be a surprise if Sullivan is still a member of the Packers’ organization by the end of the cycle.

So far we only have John Spytek and Sullivan down as general manager candidates for the Raiders, who are operating a lot like a team who might consider a package deal for their head-coaching hire with that hire’s preferred general manager candidate. (In other words: They will give Ben Johnson the GM of his choice.) Sullivan has already interviewed with the Titans once, making the second cut for that job, and has also had an interview with the Jets.