Inside MIA's decision to reportedly sign Willis
Chris Simms and Mike Florio analyze Malik Willis reportedly signing with the Dolphins on a three-year, $67.5 deal and examine why the quarterback felt comfortable with the familiar faces in Miami.
Video Transcript
Further evidence that it's not the most robust class of free agents.
The biggest name quarterback entering the day was a guy who has six career starts over four seasons, two did, that did not go well with the Titans, and two that went amazingly well as a backup with the Green Bay Packers, Malik Willis.
And we had said- Mm-hmm the, the two teams to watch were the Dolphins and the Cardinals.
Yeah.
They're either gonna go after him- Right or if they're not interested, stay away because they know him, they're in a position to know him.
The Dolphins know him better than anyone other than the Packers.
With the brain trust they have there now, John Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley, they were with him for two years.
And, and that's why I kept seeing this limited sample size.
Limited sample size.
Yeah, for everyone else, but for Sullivan and Hafley, they worked with the guy for two years.
They lived with the guy for two years.
They saw him in meetings and how he conducts himself for two years.
They saw him on the practice field for two years.
They traveled with him for two years.
That's enough time.
Think about all the darts that are gonna be thrown next month in Pittsburgh for the draft.
Mm-hmm.
With guys that you're relying upon, trying to get information- Exactly from people who were with the guy.
Yeah.
You were there.
Yes.
Yeah.
You were there.
You saw it daily.
Right.
You- You saw game evidence saw- You saw You're, If Jeff Hafley, you're the defensive coach, you saw him on scout team every day going, "Man, my defense can't stop this freaking guy," on the scout team every day.
So you're, you're exactly right.
They got the inside info.
A- and they know how he operates, they know the person, and we know that when it's a new regime, those are the things that make a new regime feel comfortable and cozy.
"Wait, a guy that knows us, knows how we operate, can help us in the locker room and be an ally, and make sure that everybody kind of knows how we operate and help out that way?"
And we know the kid's got talent, and he does.
And, like, Mike, to your point, you're exactly right.
Like, first off, you gotta take a chance at some point.
I mean, you gotta take a cha- okay, so you took a chance on a guy who is a phenomenal athlete, who's really grown as a quarterback.
If you watch the six damn games, you go, "Does he ever miss a throw or not throw an impressive throw?"
That's what you look at.
I mean, it was efficient beyond efficient, and then on top of that, elite play-making ability.
So yeah, to give a guy like this a deal, for sure, and you got, you got the inside track on him and know how he looks.
And, and I'm sick of, like, the small sample size.
Well, okay, let me give an opposite here.
oh, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield had a big sample size of crap.
Right, that was just crap, but we were okay with that- and look what happened.
Whoa, Sam Darnold, what a sample size.
Crap, crap, crap.
Oh, he gets with the Vikings, it's pretty good.
And then he gets to the Seahawks and he's the Super Bowl.
I mean, so yeah, things happen.
Guys grow.
They get in better situations.
They learn how to play the game, and I think we saw that when Malik, Malik Willis.
Cool.
I'm really happy for him to get his opportunity down there in Miami, and we'll see what he's got here.
And again, it's not like they're paying him 53.1 million- Exactly per year.
Exactly.
That, that's a number that, that Dolphins fans will want to forget forever.
'Cause that's, that's what they paid Tua Tagovailoa per year.
And in hindsight, this is one of those where, and I'll blame it on sleep deprivation- the moment that they announced on Monday, when they didn't have to, when they said goodbye to Tua on Monday- Yeah what were they doing?
They're clearing the decks.
They're clearing the decks so when they, when they do this deal with Malik Willis, the first question isn't, "Well, what's that mean for Tua?"
We already know what it means for Tua.
He don't live here no more.
We've moved on.
Yeah.
So in hindsight- Yeah they did it exactly the way they should.
We gotta, we gotta cut the cord here with Tua, move on, let him go.
Let, l- Tua, you're free to leave.
Vaya con Dios, and go find another team, and, you know, hell, by mid-afternoon, he- Yeah, you called it.
You said it reached an agreement with the Falcons.
You said you thought that was the team that might happen there.
I d- I don't know if you had inside info or if you were, you know, had the, the reverse malocchio going.
You had it all working, the magic though.
You kinda called that yesterday.
Well, s- but sometimes- Yeah Mike, again- It makes sense, right?
25 years, patterns, practices- Yeah the things that will catch someone's eye.
And the Dolphins went into Atl- Atlanta last year and beat the hell out of the Falcons, 34 to 10, and I think the Falcons were coming off of one of their Of course, they did that multiple times.
They go have some big prime time win- Yeah, yeah and then they just face plant the following week.
I think it may have been, it may have been the Sunday after they beat the Bills.
I- it might- It may have been it might have been.
You might be right.
we'll look it up.
And- But go ahead 34, 10- Yeah four touchdown passes, no interceptions.
And then I saw a clip last night on social media where during the 2024 season, Matt Ryan was going on and on during NFL Today about how important Tua Tagovailoa is to the Miami Dolphins.
I didn't know about that.
If I'd known about that, even more reason to think.
Right.
It was just, it's just a matter of, you know, you look at the 32 teams and, and it wasn't w- you know- There's not a lot, right which of these seven viable candidates- Yeah is gonna emerge and get Tua.
It's like, is there really anybody?
It's Minnesota and Atlanta.
That's it.
And I, I wrote, I wrote on Saturday, I, I look at Minnesota's schedule, look at Atlanta's schedule.
First of all, you got a bunch of indoor games.
Yeah.
Check.
That's definitely a big deal.
You know?
You got some outdoor games.
You got some outdoor games that may be in the cold.
Minus.
Yeah, exactly.
That's Hey, that's the other thing with Malik WillisCan't say you don't have a quarterback that can't play in the cold anymore.
He's not gonna be affected by that.
That's- We saw him in- That works out well for the Miami Dolphins we saw him in Chicago in five degrees throwing lasers all over the field like it was nothing.
I mean, him and Caleb Williams acted like it w- there was no weather that night.
So you're right, he's not gonna have any problem there.
And, Miami's got a chance here to, to really strike gold.
as you've heard me say, and I, I, I don't think you're, you know, disagree.
you see there's superstar talent here from this player.
I mean, Malik Willis has superstar potential.
It's a special arm, it's a special athlete.
And then him going to Green Bay and getting behind Jordan Love and learning from Matt LaFleur, you, you can see how much it did for his game.
And you saw the improvements and how quickly they happened.
That, that's the big thing.
And then we joked for two years about Jordan Love coming back from injuries too quickly 'cause he was like, "Damn, that, that, that looks too good.
I need to get healthy.
That- that's a little scary how good that looks."
All right, so off of that, the, the, the other part of it though with Malik, a- and you kind of already mentioned it, Miami, no big surprise, all right?
But just off of this, I think what I am also a little surprised by, and I don't know anything here behind the curtain or any of the, the stuff here, I am surprised we didn't hear Arizona involve Malik Willis, at all.
I do sit here and go, "Wait, what is Arizo- Arizona planning to do at quarterback?"
I did not think they were just gonna sit there with Jacoby Brissett and go, "Okay, we'll ride with him for the year."
Smoke him if you got him.
I know.
So- Gardner Minshew.
Yeah, ex- yeah.
So I, so it- It can't be the starter.
No.
It can't be the starter.
No.
And you would think he's the backup, but is it the backup to Jacoby Brissett?
Or w- they got other plans here?
I, I don't know.
But I, I guess that's, I was just surprised that I heard no inkling or rumor from Arizona that maybe Malik Willis was going to go there.
We'll see if something comes out over the next few days.
I certainly didn't hear anything, but regardless, the Dolphins got Malik Willis.
Maybe they liken to Kirk Cousins.
I, I know.
Yeah, I'm, I'm, I, I They, that could be a possibility.
I mean, again, there's history there.
You got Mike LaFleur, and it's Matt, and it's McVay, and Shanahan, and they know Kirk Cousins, and, you know, they've stayed in contact with him.
I know most of that coaching tree throughout his existence in the NFL.
So that's definitely a thought, Mike.
I'm, I'm with you there in that, that thought.
And this is one of those years where because of the volume of quarterbacks who are going to be available as of Wednesday, and Tua's the exception where You know, like, the Falcons haven't said to Kirk Cousins, "Go do whatever you wanna do."
They are gonna cut him tomorrow, it's clear.
It was clear from the moment they redid his contract in January.
They eventually admitted at the combine they're going to release him.
They have a two-day window to cut him before, like, the rest of his contract is fully guaranteed.
They did a quid pro quo where Cousins agreed to a restructuring that reduces the cap number they're gonna carry until June 1, because when you do a post-June 1 release, you still have to carry the guy's existing cap number all the way until June.
So if you can reduce it by pushing money forward, you do it.
So he agreed to all that.
He's getting released.
But this is gonna be like a delayed reaction.
Like, I think Wednesday could be as, almost as interesting as Monday- Mm-hmm when you factor in the And I'm not trying to hype it.
I Sometimes, folks, just let the thing hype itself.
Sometimes it's a little much, sometimes it's a little much.
We, we don't have to be carnival barkers here.
People are naturally interested.
But I'm not, this is not an effort to hype what tomorrow could be.
Tomorrow could be as interesting as Monday, when guys are officially released, and where's Geno Smith gonna go?
Where's, Kirk Cousins gonna go?
You know, what are the Steelers gonna do?
We're gonna talk about them coming up, because, hey, we got two, you know, big name pass catchers now, and who's gonna throw them the ball?
Yeah.
So I just think that there's still the potential, and trades could still happen.
I was talking to someone yesterday who's convinced the Eagles have to trade A.J.
Brown for cap purposes, and I haven't written anything about it because I can't figure out why there's an urgency to trade him now.
Whenever they trade him, it's gonna be a problem under their cap.
But I think the issue is, and I'm sorry to deviate into this, but I've been, it's been on my mind, and I still need to figure this out all the way to the bottom of the wormhole.
Apparently, they have so many other cap issues that, like, they have to get rid of him.
They have to trade him before next year.
That's kind of the loose way it was explained to me, so.
And now that they've lost Jalen Phillips, it's easier to trade him before June 1, 'cause that's the other issue, too.
The cap charge this year, you take it all if you trade him before June 1.
But there's just a sense, not a widespread sense, but from someone with one of the teams is convinced.
They've done the research into the Eagles' cap situation- Mm-hmm and they're convinced they have got to trade him this year, probably after June 1, but, but possibly with Phillips leaving, they can do it before June 1.
So that's another one to keep an eye on is the week one trades.
I, I, I mean, that, that's one that I, I just expect.
It's just like, when does the shoe drop?
When, when does it actually happen?
And yeah, does it happen here in the next week or few days, and then they, you know, designate it as post-June 1st or do something like that?
I don't know, but I think, yes, most of the league expects A.J.
Brown to be on another team rather than the Philadelphia Eagles next year.
Yeah, I think that's, you know, kind of the, the common sense thought in the NFL right now.
All right, one last thing on Malik Willis.
Yeah.
And I had heard, and it's not like this was the tidal wave of what the numbers were gonna be.
Nobody really could get a, a feel for what Malik Willis was gonna get paid.
Last year, Sam Darnold got 33 and a half million after 14 regular season wins with the Vikings.
So, you know, the market goes all the way to 60, and it started last year at 10 and a half with Russell Wilson.
It's a big range.
Yes.
Where was it gonna land?
And someone that I know and someone that I trust and someone who understands the market forces and the dynamics at the combine, I said, "What do you think Willis is gonna get?"
"20 to 25 million."
And the final number, boom, right in the middle, 22 and a half million per year on a three-year deal.
Surprised it's a three-year deal, though.
I thought he'd have the leverage to insist on two.
And the way it's structured, the first two are fully guaranteed, 45 million, 22 and a half million a year.
The third year, complete team option.
So this is where And you're gonna have, "Oh, millions and millions and millions committed yesterday."
Well, no, no, no, remember, it's a one-way commitment.
Once you get past the guarantees, there may be years left under the contract, the team can rip it up.
The player's stuck with it.
And so it's a two-year, $45 million contract as a practical matter from M- Malik Willis's perspective.
From the team's perspective, "Hey, this guy's great.
We're gonna pay him the 22 and a half million for year three."
Yeah.
well, it, it, it's, it's one where I go, I, I think if you get to that point, and they go year two, and they get done with year two, and Malik Willis is good, you go, "We got a good problem here."
You go, "Why are you getting another one?"
Right.
Yeah, we got a problem.
Right.
So let's extend him.
Right.
That's great.
We wanna make you happy.
But- You're the man.
But, but, y- yes, but you're right.
It still has Dan the power.
But you're keeping him off the open market.
Exactly.
You're avoiding the franchise tag.
Right, right.
It's still, there's still a real benefit there.
Totally.
You, you're in the driver's seat.
You have a full year to negotiate the contract with the guy, not just a month or two.
Totally, totally.
You're, you're right about that.
So it's, it's a real benefit to the Dolphins.
100%.
