The Dolphins have been mired in mediocrity in recent years.
But with a new General Manager in Jon-Eric Sullivan and a new head coach in Jeff Hafley, the team’s path back to prominence may be a long one.
Hafley admitted as much in an interview with Stephen A. Smith that was released this week.
“Success is not gonna be measured in wins and losses this year — and I know nobody wants to hear that,” Hafley said, via Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “I want to see where we end and how far we can take this thing, and how much we develop these players ... Success for me is gonna be we go on that field and we play so hard that even you turn it on and say, ‘man those guys are flying around.’
“I just think this year’s so much about developing who we are as a football team, finding the right guys and by the end of the year saying, ‘We’ve got something real powerful moving forward.’”
The personnel moves the Dolphins have made over the course of the offseason signal that building the club is going to be a process. But getting some Ws along the way will make a difference, showing that Miami is moving in the right direction.
Dolphins Clips
The Raiders’ preseason has ended. Both Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza played in the finale, against the 49ers.
After the game, coach Klint Kubiak still didn’t name a starting quarterback.
The audio was dead for the first couple of questions during Kubiak’s postgame press conference. Apparently, one of them dealt with the QB1 issue. Via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Kubiak said he’s not ready to name a starter for the Week 1 game at Miami.
In the portion of the press conference for which the sound was on, Kubiak arguably spoke about Mendoza as a player who may not be spending extensive time practicing or playing moving forward.
“He needs another three preseason games,” Kubiak said. “You know, all those rookies do. And now that the season’s starting, you know, the practice reps get smaller, and that’s just life. But, us as coaches, we gotta get them ready to play, keep developing them.”
Later, Kubiak said regarding Mendoza, “We got him plenty of time, and I’m happy where he’s at, but we just got to keep pushing him to be better.”
Regardless, Kubiak hasn’t named a starter. And the first real game is only 17 days away.
Wide receiver Tutu Atwell is heading back to Los Angeles.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Dolphins have agreed to trade Atwell to the Rams. Atwell was a 2021 second-round pick of the NFC West club and he spent the last five seasons playing for head coach Sean McVay.
The Rams will send running back Jarquez Hunter to Miami in exchange for Atwell.
Atwell caught 105 passes for 1,535 yards and five touchdowns during his first stint with the Rams. He will join Davante Adams, Puka Nakua, Jordan Whittington, Konata Mumpfield, and sixth-round pick CJ Daniels as options in the passing game for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Hunter was a 2025 fourth-round pick and played five games on special teams during his rookie season.
The Eagles made a change to their wide receiver group ahead of Sunday’s deadline to cut rosters to 90 players.
They announced that they have signed Tahj Washington to the active roster. Brandon Hayes was waived in a corresponding move.
Washington was a 2024 seventh-round pick by the Dolphins and was with the team until being waived earlier this week. He appeared in six games last season and had three catches for 37 yards.
Hayes signed with the Eagles three weeks ago. He was undrafted out of Southeastern Louisiana.
DeVonta Smith, Makai Lemon, Dontayvion Wicks, Hollywood Brown, Elijah Moore, Darius Cooper, Britain Covey, Quez Watkins, Danny Gray, Samori Toure, and Erik Ezukanma are also on the roster at receiver.
The Dolphins are adding a running back.
Undrafted rookie Coleman Bennett has agreed to a one-year deal with the club, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
He previously spent time with the Bears for the offseason and training camp. He was waived last week.
Bennett started his collegiate career at Bucknell before transferring to Rice in 2024 and Kennesaw State in 2025.
The Dolphins added a wide receiver to the roster on Tuesday.
They announced that they have claimed Ryan Miller off of waivers. The Giants waived Miller on Monday.
Miller’s time with the Giants ended without him appearing in any regular season games. He was claimed off of waivers from the Bucs last December and re-signed with the team in April.
Miller had 14 receptions for 162 yards and three touchdowns in 25 games with the Bucs over three seasons.
The Dolphins created room for Miller in Miami by waiving wide receiver Tahj Washington. The 2024 Dolphins seventh-round pick had three catches for 37 yards last season.
The Dolphins will be missing one of their rookies for an extended stretch.
Via multiple reporters, head coach Jeff Hafley said linebacker Trey Moore will undergo ankle surgery. While Moore is expected back at some point in the season, Hafley said it will take a while for him to return.
Miami selected Moore in the fourth round of this year’s draft. The linebacker began his collegiate career at UTSA before playing at Texas over the last two seasons.
Additionally, Hafley noted that defensive lineman Kenneth Grant is week to week and defensive lineman Zach Sieler is getting close to returning to the field.
The Dolphins announced a handful of roster moves on Monday afternoon.
They have signed tight end Ethan Conner and linebacker Jaheim Thomas. They waived center Jim Bonifas and cornerback Ahmari Harvey to make room for the new additions.
Conner was undrafted out of Troy this year. He signed with the Jaguars in the spring and spent part of training camp with the team before being let go.
Thomas had 64 tackles, a half-sack, a tackle for loss and two passes defensed in 10 games for Louisville of the UFL this year. He was undrafted in 2025 after finishing his college time at Wisconsin.
The preseason is often about figuring out the contours of the roster. Sometimes, it’s simply about getting through the game.
On Saturday, the Dolphins extensively used a player who’d signed with the team a day before — and who hadn’t participated in any portion of any training camp, with any team.
And Stephen Dix Jr. was thrilled to have the opportunity, not just to play but to play a significant role.
“We had a linebacker who I met this morning in my office; Steve came in, met him, and he started the whole second half where we had to tell him the call, he had to give the call, then we had to tell him what to do on every single play,” coach Jeff Hafley told reporters after the game. “So we were able to play only like two calls in the second half, which has never happened to me in my life. So I just give him credit for going out and fighting. That’s what the preseason is all about, to find out who those guys are.”
Dix welcomed the challenge, and the opportunity.
“I think I had a quick 30-minute meeting with [linebackers] coach [Al] Washington,” Dix told reporters. “They told me, ‘Look bro, just go out there run sideline to sideline. I’m going to be in your ear and I’m going to tell you the call and tell you what to do.’ . . . Like that’s literally any football player’s dream, get told what to do and just go play ball. It was exciting. It was so fun out there.”
Dix, undrafted out of Arkansas, had been signed by the Cardinals but released in June.
“This is my dream, I’m doing exactly what I set out to do as a kid, and the journey doesn’t stop here,” Dix said. “It’s obviously putting together enough days to make the team and continue my career. Today was just surreal. It was a blessing. I can’t be more thankful. . . . To get this tryout and to get called to come up here and sign and not only sign and play, what more can I ask for? That’s all I wanted, was an opportunity to put the pads on.”
Dix was on the field for 34 defensive snaps and two special-teams plays. He made one tackle and had two assists.
Regardless of whether he wins a spot on the 53-man roster, he may have done enough to get a spot on the practice squad, where he can keep working toward his next opportunity.
The Dolphins went to the waiver wire to add a cornerback on Saturday.
They announced the addition of Jai’Onte’ McMillan to their active roster. McMillan was dropped by the Colts when they signed tight end JJ Galbreath on Friday.
Miami cleared space for McMillan earlier in the day when they released cornerback Nick McCloud.
McMillan was undrafted out of Minnesota this year and he signed with the Colts in June. He played 17 defensive snaps and one special teams snap in the Colts’ preseason opener.
The waiver claim was announced during the Dolphins’ game against the Giants on Saturday afternoon. McMillan will begin practicing with his new team on Monday and could see time in their preseason finale.
