The Phinsider
There are two obvious ways to rebuild any sports team.
The first way is to do it is gradually, over a number of seasons — ostensibly, this allows you to stay competitive while pruning parts of the roster that need help while ridding yourself of overpaid and underperforming players.
The second way is to blow the whole damned thing up from the studs in one season, make it clear that you will not be competitive for a while, and just take your medicine all at once.
We all know which path the 2026 Miami Dolphins have chosen.
With a dead cap bounce of nearly $180 million for this league year, and the contractual jettisoning of Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey, Jaylen Waddle, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bradley Chubb, and Terron Armstead among others, the Dolphins are making it abundantly clear that the mistakes of past administrations are obvious to all, and it’s time to start from scratch.
While this leaves the current team with quite possibly the least impressive roster in the NFL, it does give the new regime, led by general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, some leeway when it comes to short-term success. The only major addition the Dolphins made this offseason was the three-year, $67.5 million contract with $45 million guaranteed given to quarterback Malik Willis. Willis should be fine in Bobby Sowik’s offense, because as a Kyle Shanahan acolyte, Slowik relies more on the offensive line than the quarterback when it comes to calling protections.
The new Dolphins also had what looks like a really good draft, with eight picks who could all be significant contributors in their rookie seasons. That’s partially due to talent and scheme fit, and partially because *waves hands everywhere* opportunity rises up everywhere in nuclear rebuilds like this.
So, which hidden gems need to step up in all this deconstruction to re-construct? We have three names who could exceed expectations, because there ain’t nowhere to go but up.
One interesting thing about the new Dolphins is that there is no longer a left-handed starting quarterback on the roster as Tagovailoa was, which flips to a point the responsibilities for left and right tackles. Third-year left tackle Patrick Paul will be protecting Willis’ blind side as opposed to Tua’s front side, which Paul did pretty well for a guy playing on that side of the line on a full-time basis for the first time since 2023, his final season with the Houston Cougars before Miami took him with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 draft.
Paul had just 248 left tackle snaps in his rookie year as opposed to 975 last season, and he acquitted himself quite well for the most part, which proved to be a continuation of his attributes as a draft prospect.
In 2025, Paul allowed four sacks, two quarterback hits, and 19 quarterback hurries in 578 pass-blocking reps, and he also proved to be an...
