Getty

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JUNE 09: Malik Willis #2, Mark Gronowski #16, and Quinn Ewers #14 of the Miami Dolphins participate in OTA Offseason Workouts at Baptist Health Training Complex on June 09, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

After the Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67 million contract this offseason, the team hopes to have found its new franchise quarterback.

However, Willis has only started six NFL games in his four-year career. Additionally, he has shown volatility in those four seasons, as he disappointed with the Tennessee Titans after being drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Willis was then traded to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a seventh-round pick.

With Green Bay, Willis impressed as Jordan Love’s backup and showed off the skillset that made him a Day 2 pick in 2022. Even with the sample size being small, it was apparently enough for the Dolphins to give him $45 million guaranteed. Despite this, Miami head coach Jeff Hafley has preached competition since being hired by the team, which may result in Quinn Ewers having a slim chance of becoming Miami’s starting quarterback.

Now, an NFL insider has shared his take on Miami’s quarterback situation.

Miami Dolphins Quarterbacks

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer was asked in his mailbag about the status of Quinn Ewers as Miami’s backup. Breer replied, “Quinn Ewers has made a nice impression over the past year with his teammates, and I believe enters OTAs as the favorite to be the backup. As such, I’d bet he’ll get a lot of run in the preseason games, and maybe toward the end of the season, too, if the Malik Willis–led Dolphins fall out of the race.”

Breer’s scenario is similar to what happened to the Dolphins in 2025. The team replaced quarterback Tua Tagovailoa once they were officially eliminated from playoff contention, and at that point Miami turned to Quinn Ewers. Ewers ended up starting the final three games of the season for the Dolphins. 

Regarding his performance in those games, Dolphins on SI’s Alain Poupart wrote:
“In his three starts — against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots — Ewers had an up-and-down performance for sure, but he certainly didn’t look out of place and that the game was too big for him.

In fact, he showed enough that the notion he could compete for the starting job in 2026 wasn’t totally outrageous until Willis came aboard and the Dolphins committed $45 million of guaranteed money over the next two years.”

Dolphins Quarterback Competition

While Willis’ contract certainly seems to indicate that he will be Miami’s quarterback in 2026, Miami Herald writer Omar Kelly believes it should be an open competition as he said, “Ewers isn’t competing to be Dolphins’ starting QB, but maybe he should.” Kelly wrote:
“There are some days he has outperformed Willis in the sessions the media has watched … So far Ewers looks like a quarterback who is taking the next step, and a contributing factor to that is that there’s carryover between the offense he learned last season under Mike McDaniel and the one Slowik is installing since they come from the same west coast offensive tree.”

A counter-argument to what Kelly writes is that despite some potential struggles, Willis offers more upside than the former seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers. One of the primary reasons the Dolphins decided to invest in Willis was due to the quarterback’s strong arm and dynamic running ability, neither of which Ewers possesses.