Looking Into the 2026 Miami Dolphins Quarterback Room
It’s been 26 years since Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame Dan Marino announced his retirement from the NFL. Since that moment, 27 quarterbacks have started for the Dolphins, with the latest being Quinn Ewers. Now heading into the 2026 NFL season, Miami is projected to have its 28th starting quarterback since the Hall of Famer hung up his cleats in the former Green Bay Packer, Malik Willis. Before he takes the field, however, let’s take a look at the projected 2026 Miami Dolphins quarterback room.
Malik Willis
Willis came over from the Green Bay Packers to Miami after signing a three-year, $67.5 million deal this past offseason. During his time in Green Bay, the former Liberty quarterback was primarily backing up Packers QB Jordan Love. That didn’t stop him from getting onto the field, though, making 11 appearances and three starts in his two seasons in Wisconsin. In those games played, the 27-year-old completed 70 of his 89 pass attempts for 972 yards and six touchdowns.
It’s a much different story than his first two years in the NFL. Willis was drafted by the Tennessee Titans with the 86th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. At that time, the Roswell, Georgia product was a potential first-round pick due to his well-above-average athleticism and elite arm strength. Those intangibles didn’t translate to the NFL immediately, however. The former third-round pick would start three games over two seasons for the Titans, throwing for 350 yards and three interceptions before being traded to Green Bay for a 2025 seventh-round pick right before the start of the 2024 season.
Quinn Ewers
Quinn’s journey to Miami is much simpler than the hoops it took Willis to jump through to get down to South Beach. After back-to-back College Football Playoff Semifinal appearances in 2023 and 2024, the Texas Longhorn entered the 2025 NFL Draft as the seventh-ranked quarterback in the class according to ESPN. The Dolphins would take Ewers with the 231st overall pick. In his rookie year, Ewers started out as the team’s emergency third quarterback. Before long, the Lone Star native took over the backup spot and would see the field for the first time in Miami’s collapsing loss to Cleveland in Week Seven. From there, QB Tua Tagovailoa was benched for the rest of the year, and Ewers took over the reins.
Ewers, in his first three starts for Miami in 2025, was up and down, finishing with a 1-2 record, throwing for 622 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions. His best game for Miami came in Week 17 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where the rookie signal-caller tossed two touchdown passes and, more importantly, no interceptions in the Dolphins’ 20-17 win. For a seventh-round pick, Ewers played above his draft slot in the few chances he got for Miami last season. The problem, however, is that new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan’s decision to cut ties with Tagovailoa this offseason opened the door to bringing in Willis as the team's next starting quarterback.
Mark Gronkowski/Cam Miller
Rookie undrafted free agent Mark Gronkowski and 2025 sixth-round pick Cam Miller wrap up the quarterback room for Miami in 2026. We’ll start with the proverbial veteran in this spot. Miller was taken 215th overall out of North Dakota State by the Las Vegas Raiders in the 2025 NFL Draft before being waived and placed onto the Raiders' practice squad for the 2025 season. The former Bison standout would be signed onto the Dolphins' 53-man roster on New Year’s Day. Now, for the final quarterback on the roster, Gronkowski was signed after the 2026 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa. In his time playing college football, the former Hawkeye and South Dakota State Jackrabbit threw for 12,071 yards, rushed for 2,312 yards, and scored 80 total touchdowns in five seasons.
Who Will be Starting for the Dolphins in 2026?
There has been considerable speculation throughout OTAs about a potential quarterback competition between Ewers and Willis, with Dolphins fans largely split on who should lead the offense in 2026. However, the Dolphins should be considered as one of the franchises for 2026 that already has their starting quarterback for the season, and it’s Willis. If the plan from Sullivan and first-year head coach Jeff Hafley was to have a quarterback competition, bringing in a quarterback for over 20 million dollars a year when already paying another quarterback no longer on the roster, 55.4 million this season, would be the absolute last thing to do. So my projection for the Dolphins quarterback room is pretty straightforward: Willis will start, Ewers will be the backup, and the real competition will be between Miller and Gronkowski for the third spot.
