The Dolphins have found their new General Manager.
According to multiple reports, the Dolphins will hire Jon-Eric Sullivan to fill the role. Sullivan was one of four finalists for the job and had his second interview with the team on Thursday.
Sullivan has worked for the Packers since 2004 in a variety of scouting and personnel roles. He spent the last four seasons as the team’s vice president of player personnel.
The first big task that Sullivan will be involved with in his new job will be the selection of the team’s next head coach. The Dolphins fired Mike McDaniel on Thursday, so Sullivan and the eventual hire will both be in their first season with the Dolphins in 2026.
This is the business we’ve chosen.
That reality is crystal clear for NFL head coaches in the early days of every New Year. The vast majority of hired coaches inevitably become fired coaches. Few leave on their own terms, without a pink slip, a push, or a nudge.
They understand it. And they’re compensated accordingly, often with millions still owed to them after they turn in their whistles.
Five days ago, there were two consensus vacancies looming for 2026, on top of the two that already existed. Starting on Sunday night, two became three (Falcons). On Monday, three became six (Raiders, Browns, Cardinals). On Tuesday, six became seven (Ravens). On Thursday, seven became eight (Dolphins).
And that may not be the end of it. Losses by the Packers or the Bills this weekend could (key word: could) spark even more changes. Also, Mike Tomlin could still decide to walk away from the Steelers whenever his latest playoff run ends.
It’s just the way it is. Owners feel compelled to do something to make things better, or at least to make it look like they’re trying. It’s a play to renew season tickets. To create hope, plausible or otherwise, for a more viable future that will keep fans engaged with their wallets, their time, their loyalty.
Adding to the willingness to fire a coach is the fact that, every year, one or more teams with new coaches immediately thrive. This weekend, two of the 12 wild-card coaches will be in their first seasons on the job. Five of the 12 are in their first two years on the job.
Quick fixes are possible. For plenty of teams, however, hiring a new coach won’t fix anything. The dysfunction flows from the top. The owner who hired the coach who was just fired will now have to hire another one. Who will eventually be fired.
Bad teams stay bad for a reason. And most of the jobs that are currently open are open because the organization can’t emerge from a cycle of dysfunction.
Except in Cleveland. Where the team is definitely not dysfunctional. Because the owner says so, despite a mountain of evidence otherwise.
It likely won’t take Mike McDaniel long to find a new job.
An obvious offensive coordinator candidate for any team that needs one, McDaniel has already fielded some interest.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Lions have reached out to McDaniel about potentially becoming the club’s OC.
Detroit fired offensive coordinator John Morton earlier this week after the club missed the postseason. Head coach Dan Campbell took over offensive play-calling midway through the season, but the Lions were not as cohesive of an offensive unit throughout the year as they had been with now-Bears head coach Ben Johnson calling the plays.
Washington is another team with an offensive coordinator vacancy that is likely to reach out to McDaniel, given that McDaniel coached under Dan Quinn when he was head coach of the Falcons.
But there could be another role for McDaniel — head coach. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported earlier on Thursday that the Browns have interest in speaking with McDaniel about their vacancy.
Either way, it appears McDaniel will have some choices after he was fired by Miami on Thursday.
Nearly four years after the lawsuit was first filed, a key threshold question is moving toward a final answer.
The NFL has filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court as to the question of whether the civil action filed in February 2022 by former Dolphins coach (and current Vikings defensive coordinator) Brian Flores against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants, the Broncos, and the Texans will be resolved in court, or in arbitration.
The specific legal question presented to the Supreme Court is this: “Whether an arbitration agreement governing disputes in a professional sports league is categorically unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act because it designates the league commissioner as the default arbitrator and permits the commissioner to develop arbitral procedures.”
The NFL has wisely narrowed the question, given that the reasoning (if applied throughout corporate America) would empower other companies to attempt to rig the in-house arbitration process by putting employment disputes in the hands of the CEO. Still, the league’s position is clear — it wants the Commissioner to retain power over disputes involving the NFL and the various teams that have hired and that handsomely compensate the Commissioner.
The 25-page document is the first step in an effort to persuade the Supreme Court to take up the case. Of the many petitions it receives each year, few are accepted.
More time will pass as the Supreme Court considers whether to take the case. Even more time will pass if the Supreme Court grants the petition.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit invalidated the NFL’s arbitration provision, concluding that the procedure lacks independence. (And it does.) The Supreme Court, if it takes the case, will decide once and for all whether it’s legitimate for the NFL (and any sports league) to put its Commissioner in charge of claims made against the NFL.
It’s fundamentally unfair to delegate those powers to someone whose connection to one side of a legal fight is so obvious. Frankly, no Commissioner should want to be expected to set aside their clear self-interests in an effort to dispense justice in an objective way.
But this has been the league’s practice, for years. It desperately wants to run its own business. It desperately hopes to hold the gavel when it comes to deciding whether the legal claims against it are valid.
It’s a bad way to do business. It’s now for the Supreme Court to decide whether it’s a good way, or a bad way, to apply the laws of the United States.
The Dolphins, after seemingly planning to pair coach Mike McDaniel with a new General Manager, have decided to go with a fresh start.
That means McDaniel will be moving on, after four years with the Dolphins.
“Coaching this team and being a part of this great franchise has been the honor of a lifetime,” McDaniel said. “When I took this job, I had a vision of a team that was bonded together and played with passion and energy on the path to winning championships. I gave everything I had for that goal.
“I am disappointed, especially for the fans, that we did not have better results on the field, but I am grateful for every coach, player, and staff member who poured themselves into that vision alongside me. I’m grateful to Stephen Ross for the opportunity he gave me, a little known coach at the time when he hired me. Most of all I’m thankful to my wife Katie and daughter Ayla for their unending love and support. I love this game, the people and relationships that are a part of it, and I will forever cherish my time in Miami.”
In four seasons, the 42-year-old McDaniel generated a record of 35-33, with two playoff appearances. Including the postseason, he finishes 35-35.
His offensive system works very well, when he has the right personnel to execute it. Too often, however, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t available. More recently, there were too many turnovers.
And the narratives about the team’s toughness, especially in cold-weather games, only got stronger with more and more opportunities to reverse it. Entering 2025, the message was that the culture would change. By year four, that’s tough for any coach to do.
McDaniel’s methods could still work well elsewhere, either as a head coach or as an offensive coordinator. His book has many more chapters, and there will be another opportunity to write a few as the head coach of another team.
