The Dolphins overhauled their organization by firing General Manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel over the last year, but they’re still counting on one of the last big acquisitions made by the prior administration.
Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant was a first-round pick in 2025 and his rookie season was a bit quieter than most in Miami would have hoped. Grant played in every game as a rookie and finished the season with 33 tackles and two sacks for a defense that failed to impress in most areas.
The end of Grant’s first offseason program under new head coach Jeff Hafley comes with some hopeful notes for this fall, however. Hafley said at a Tuesday press conference that he’s seeing signs of the player that scouts thought Grant would be at the NFL level.
“I think he’s taken a step forward,” Hafley said. “I know he’s changed his body. He’s faster. He looks more like the guy I saw on his college tape, with his lateral quickness, his pass rush ability, his ability to play the run. Just the way he’s moving. I think that goes back to Year 1 — Lack of experience, lack of reps, lack of maybe a little confidence as you’re out there. Right now, he’s starting to believe in his abilities that we know that he has. Hopefully once pads come in, we’ll see that continue.”
That final line is a reminder that nothing is decided in the spring, but continued positive growth for Grant would be a boost to Hafley’s chances of success in his new job.
Dolphins Clips
The Dolphins are moving into a new era with head coach Jeff Hafley and quarterback Malik Willis.
As their offseason program gets closer to its end, Hafley is feeling good about the young signal-caller.
Hafley, who was around Willis for the last two seasons with the Packers, told reporters on Tuesday that Willis has “looked as good as he’s looked since I’ve known him.”
“The conversation I had with Malik today walking down the hallway, you can see he’s more comfortable,” Hafley said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “He understands the answers being provided for him on each play.”
Willis, 27, played well when called upon as Green Bay’s backup over the last two seasons. In his 11 appearances with three starts, Willis completed 79 percent of his passes for 972 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 261 yards with three TDs in that span.
The Seahawks took a look at a possible veteran addition to their secondary on Monday.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that they had safety Ifeatu Melifonwu in for a workout.
Melifonwu spent the 2025 season with the Dolphins and started in eight of his 16 appearances. He had 53 tackles, a sack, and an interception with Miami.
The veteran safety spent his first four seasons with the Lions. He had 72 tackles, 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries during his time in Detroit.
Per Garafolo, no signing is imminent but the Seahawks could revisit adding Melifonwu in the coming weeks.
New Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley wants his team to be good at the tush push, on both sides of the ball.
Asked about the tush push at Organized Team Activities, Hafley said he wants his defense to figure out how to stop it, and he wants quarterback Malik Willis and the Dolphins’ offensive line to figure out how to run it effectively.
“It’s hard to stop, so get good at it and do it,” Hafley said. “I mean it’s really hard to stop. So as long as it’s a legal play, we need to figure out on defense a way to stop it. And with a quarterback like we have with Malik, and some big guys up front, maybe we can get good at it.”
Last offseason, all the talk in the NFL was about whether to stop the tush push by changing the rules. But when that proposal failed, it became clear that the play is here to stay, and smart teams need to be ready for it.
The Dolphins have gotten their entire 2026 draft class under contract.
Miami announced on Thursday that the club has signed first-round pick Chris Johnson and fifth-round pick Seydou Traore.
All 13 members of Miami’s large class from this year have now put pen to paper.
Johnson, a cornerback out of San Diego State, was the team’s second of two first-round picks, coming off the board at No. 27 overall.
Traore, a tight end, was the No. 180 overall selection in the fifth round. The pick originally belonged to the Cowboys.
Offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor, Miami’s first pick at No. 12 overall, signed his contract earlier this week.
The Pro Football Writers of America announced Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores as the 2026 George Halas Award winner.
Flores, the 58th Halas Award winner, is the first member of the Vikings franchise to receive the honor from the PFWA.
Other 2026 finalists for the Halas Award were Lions edge Aidan Hutchinson and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
The Halas Award is given to an NFL player, coach or staff member who overcomes the most adversity to succeed. The award is named for Halas, a charter member (1963) of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who was associated with the Chicago Bears and NFL from their inception in 1920 until his death in 1983 as an owner, manager, player and promoter. Halas won 324 games and six NFL titles in 40 seasons as a coach.
The Halas Award is one of the two oldest awards presented by the PFWA, along with the Bill Nunn Jr. Award, presented to a reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage. Both awards were first given in 1969.
After three seasons as the head coach of the Dolphins, Flores was fired after the 2021 season. He filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, alleging racial discrimination. In the midst of the lawsuit, he was hired by Pittsburgh as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach in 2022. Flores has spent the last three seasons (2023-25) as Minnesota defensive coordinator. In February 2026, a U.S. District Court ruled that Flores’ lawsuit can be tried in open court, rather than arbitration overseen by the NFL. On May 26, the U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by the NFL by declining to review the lower court’s decision in the matter.
During the 2025 season, the Vikings defense ranked third in the NFL in total yards (282.6 yards per game).
When the Dolphins traded one of their best players away in wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, it led to questions about whether they’re tanking on the 2026 season and turning their attention to the future. New Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan doesn’t want to hear that.
“So understand all the R words -- retool, rebuild, refocus -- I don’t like that,” Sullivan said, via ESPN. “I think that gives the connotation of, ‘hey, look, we’re mailing it in this year.’ That’s 100% not what’s going on. We’re here to compete and play our ass off and try to win football games as we build this thing out. That’s the culture we want to be. We want people that embrace that underdog mentality.”
The Dolphins may be trying to win football games this season, but few people think they’ll win many. Their over/under win total is just 4.5, suggesting they’ll be even worse this season than they were last year, when they finished 7-10 and fired GM Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel.
Sullivan and new head coach Jeff Hafley do have a rebuilding job ahead of them. But Sullivan insists they want to build by winning in Year One.
The Dolphins signed first-round offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor, the team announced Wednesday.
Proctor’s signing leaves only first-round cornerback Chris Johnson and fifth-round tight end Seydou Traore unsigned. The team previously signed second-round linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, third-round wide receiver Caleb Douglas, third-round tight end Will Kacmarek, third-round wide receiver Chris Bell, fourth-round defensive end Trey Moore, fourth-round safety Kyle Louis, fifth-round safety Michael Taaffe, fifth-round wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., sixth-round guard DJ Campbell and seventh-round defensive end Max Llewellyn.
The Dolphins made Proctor the 12th overall pick in April.
He played three seasons at Alabama, starting 40 games at left tackle. He helped the Crimson Tide to an SEC title in 2023 and to College Football Playoff appearances in 2023 and 2025.
Proctor was a consensus All-American and a first-team All-SEC selection in 2025. He was also named to the 2023 SEC All-Freshman team and earned second-team All-SEC honors in 2024.
Former Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier has found a new job in Detroit.
Grier has joined the Lions’ front office as a personnel executive, according to Adam Schefter.
The 56-year-old Grier had spent a decade as the Dolphins’ GM before he was fired last season, the day after a Thursday Night Football loss to the Ravens dropped the Dolphins to 2-7. In all, Grier spent 25 years with the Dolphins, rising up their scouting department before becoming GM. Before that he was a scout for the Patriots.
Grier will work for Lions General Manager Brad Holmes, who is heading into his sixth season leading the front office in Detroit.
The Dolphins took their time before starting the process of signing their 2026 draft picks, but they made up for their slow start by getting a lot of work done all at once.
They announced the signing of 10 draft picks, including second-round linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Rodriguez was a first-team All-American at Texas Tech in 2025 after posting 128 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, seven forced fumbles, four interceptions and a sack for the Red Raiders.
Miami has also signed third-round wide receiver Caleb Douglas, third-round tight end Will Kacmarek, third-round wide receiver Chris Bell, fourth-round defensive end Trey Moore, fourth-round safety Kyle Louis, fifth-round safety Michael Taaffe, fifth-round wide receiver Kevin Coleman, sixth-round guard DJ Campbell, and seventh-round defensive end Max Llewellyn.
First-round picks Kadyn Proctor and Chris Johnson join fifth-round tight end Seydou Traore as the only unsigned picks.
