Signing Malik Willis is the smartest move the Dolphins have made in YEARS

The Miami Dolphins might have made the smartest, most-surprising move of the legal tampering period on Monday. The organization found their starting quarterback of the future by signing Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5M contract, which is stunningly low amidst a market increase which is seeing offensive linemen and EDGE rushers make more money. We gave Miami’s Willis signing an A grade for good reason.

Despite being connected to the Arizona Cardinals over the weekend, Willis instead will be tasked with leading the Dolphins under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. It’s going to be a wholly bizarre year for Miami who elected to cut their losses with Tua Tagovailoa, eating his massive contract as a result — but this is the kind of move that could pay massive dividends for the Dolphins as they rebuild their offense after Mike McDaniel being fired.

The 2022 NFL Draft has a horrific reputation for quarterback talent, which it absolutely deserved — but admittedly, I’ve been high on Willis since that pre-draft process almost four years ago. I saw a player who had every physical tool to succeed, enough backfield shiftiness to escape pressure, a cannon for an arm (with accuracy to boot), and a humble demeanor that screamed he that he could be counted on to lead an NFL franchise. The rub, as is so often the case, is that he landed in the perfectly wrong spot to succeed — which has been a trend in the NFL recently.

Rather than having the opportunity to sit and develop, the Titans took the trial-by-fire approach and put him in far before he was ready. For all the traits I liked about Willis, there was no question he needed time to develop in an NFL system, which was fine, because he was a 22-year-old at draft time. The Liberty offense he ran in college barely translated to the pros, which was a huge reason he fell to the 3rd round. Languishing on a Tennessee roster in flux, it wasn’t until he arrived in Green Bay that he got a sense of normalcy, and some real coaching.

It’s here we got the blueprint for why he can work in the NFL. In two years of limited opportunities Willis completed over 70% of his passes, for almost 1,000 yards, with 6 TDs and 0 INTs. It’s for this reason he was QB1 entering free agency, but dig a little deeper and there’s even more that’s promising about Willis’ game. This isnt a guy who was padding his completion percentage with checkdowns. This last season for the Packers he averaged 10.1 intended air yards, with 9.9 completed air yards per pass — one of the highest marks in the NFL. This is a guy who can’t just throw deep, but thrives doing so.

That makes Willis the perfect Kevin Stefanski quarterback, a coach who loves the idea of stretching the field vertically with his receivers and opening up the run game with it. Add in the mobility around the pocket to extend the play and there really could be something special brewing.

So much of the Dolphins’ ethos in recent years has been chasing good money with bad. Trying desperately to prop up their sinking ship. This is a new, exciting path that didn’t break the bank and got the Dolphins the best QB on the market. This is going to be fun.