One of the most expected free agency moves came true when the Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Malik Willis, but what was really surprising is the contract that they gave him. Miami gave Willis a three-year deal worth $67.5 million which is a ton of money for a player that has very limited experience as a starter.
When this news was announced, all that Bills fans could do was laugh at it because not only did they decide to take on a massive dead cap hit by releasing Tua Tagovailoa, but now they are giving this kind of money to Willis who has been a backup with limited starts.
In four seasons, Willis has just six passing touchdowns to three interceptions and has just over 1,300 passing yards. Now granted, maybe the Dolphins regime in Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley know more about Willis considering that all three of them have been in Green Bay the last two seasons.
Even though the Dolphins needed a quarterback, especially being in a tough conference let alone a tough division, signing Willis is a risky move and Matt Okada from NFL.com listed this signing as a risky one.
"If Miami can unlock Willis as the next dual-threat star, this will be a massive steal. But if he ends up walking the Justin Fields road, this will be a big miss and the team will be looking for a QB again in a year or two." said Okada.
Dolphins are taking huge risk with Malik Willis (and Bills have chance to see it fail)
Since 2020, the Dolphins have tried to make it work with Tua Tagovailoa and it clearly didn’t. With Tua, the Dolphins only beat the Bills twice and both times were in Miami. When the old regime gave him his massive contract extension, Bills fans were thrilled. Now, Willis will be replacing Tua which could be an upgrade, but there is a very tiny sample size to go off of.
Miami has the benefit of seeing how it works out because the regime is brand new, but if Willis shows early on that the Dolphins made an overpay for him, then they are going to be in yet another rough position at the most important position in the sport.
The Bills are thankful that they don’t have to worry about hoping that their quarterback will work out for them, as Josh Allen is a top three quarterback in the league without any debate. Buffalo will see Willis this coming season and they will find out quickly if the Dolphins’ risk will pay off or if Miami will once again be quarterback shopping after 2026.