Jon-Eric Sullivan: Dolphins are 100% not mailing it in this year

Player mentions

Article text

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.