5 Takeaways From NFL Free Agency Day 1: Malik Willis to Miami; Mike Evans Leaves Tampa
#Malik Willis #Miami Dolphins #Tua Tagovailoa #Mike Evans #Tampa Bay Buccaneers #free agency #quarterback #NFL
📌 Key Takeaways
- Malik Willis signed a 3-year, $67.5 million deal with the Miami Dolphins after they cut Tua Tagovailoa.
- Willis's connection to Dolphins' new hires from Green Bay, who had insider knowledge of him, influenced the signing.
- Mike Evans left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, marking a major departure for the team.
- Both New York teams made significant moves to reshape their identities on the first day of free agency.
📖 Full Retelling
Day 1 of NFL free agency started hot and heavy, with many of the biggest names available coming off the board in the first couple of hours after the noon ET start time. The Dolphins' plans to cut Tua Tagovailoa started the day, and then they had their new quarterback pretty quickly. A legendary receiver left the Buccaneers, and the two teams in New York made some big strides to establish new identities. Here are our takeaways: 1. Malik Willis is exactly the type of QB who is worth the risk in free agency Henry McKenna: Over the last two years, Willis took a legitimate 28 dropbacks when you cut out the screen passes, quick-game throws and tuck-and-run scrambles. Twenty eight. That’s nothing. So, if there was anyone who was going to invest in him, it was going to be someone with insider knowledge about him. There appeared to be two teams where that applied: 1) The Miami Dolphins. Both of Miami's key hires this offseason came from the Green Bay Packers: head coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. When he wasn’t filling in as the starter, Willis was the scout-team QB who faced off against Hafley’s defense almost every day. 2) The Arizona Cardinals. Packers coach Matt LaFleur developed Willis. His brother, Mike LaFleur, is the Cardinals' new head coach. If anyone was going to have a sense of what it was going to be, it’s probably Matt’s brother. As it turned out, Willis will be a Dolphin. Even after the Dolphins decided to take on $99 million in dead cap in order to cut Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins added Willis for three years, $67.5 million ($45 million guaranteed). At $22.5 million per year, that’s not crazy. Not when the Jets gave $20 million per year to Justin Fields. Not when the Colts gave $37.5 million to Daniel Jones (coming off an Achilles injury) for 2026. When looking at the draft for context, the deal makes even more sense. There is no QB who projects as a year-one starter past Fernando Mendoza, the presumed No. 1 pick. One Dolphins source e
🏷️ Themes
NFL Free Agency, Quarterback Moves, Team Restructuring
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
Day 1 of NFL free agency started hot and heavy, with many of the biggest names available coming off the board in the first couple of hours after the noon ET start time. The Dolphins' plans to cut Tua Tagovailoa started the day, and then they had their new quarterback pretty quickly. A legendary receiver left the Buccaneers, and the two teams in New York made some big strides to establish new identities. Here are our takeaways: 1. Malik Willis is exactly the type of QB who is worth the risk in free agency Henry McKenna: Over the last two years, Willis took a legitimate 28 dropbacks when you cut out the screen passes, quick-game throws and tuck-and-run scrambles. Twenty eight. That’s nothing. So, if there was anyone who was going to invest in him, it was going to be someone with insider knowledge about him. There appeared to be two teams where that applied: 1) The Miami Dolphins. Both of Miami's key hires this offseason came from the Green Bay Packers: head coach Jeff Hafley and general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan. When he wasn’t filling in as the starter, Willis was the scout-team QB who faced off against Hafley’s defense almost every day. 2) The Arizona Cardinals. Packers coach Matt LaFleur developed Willis. His brother, Mike LaFleur, is the Cardinals' new head coach. If anyone was going to have a sense of what it was going to be, it’s probably Matt’s brother. As it turned out, Willis will be a Dolphin. Even after the Dolphins decided to take on $99 million in dead cap in order to cut Tua Tagovailoa, the Dolphins added Willis for three years, $67.5 million ($45 million guaranteed). At $22.5 million per year, that’s not crazy. Not when the Jets gave $20 million per year to Justin Fields. Not when the Colts gave $37.5 million to Daniel Jones (coming off an Achilles injury) for 2026. When looking at the draft for context, the deal makes even more sense. There is no QB who projects as a year-one starter past Fernando Mendoza, the presumed No. 1 pick. One Dolphins source e
Read full article at source