Sully Makes Good On His Commitment To Achane

Sully Makes Good On His Commitment To Achane

Since becoming GM of the Miami Dolphins in January, Jon Eric Sullivan has been a breath of fresh air with his plan and vision for this team. He inherited a team in salary-cap hell and decided to tear it apart, even if it meant carrying over $180 million in dead salary-cap space.

He intends to build this team through the draft and wants to build a tough, physical football team. No more speed and undersized guys that wear out at the end of the season. He has also identified the core players on this team in Jordan Brooks, Aaron Brewer, and DeVon Achane.

The problem is that all 3 are entering their final seasons, and the question was whether Sully would try to extend them or possibly trade them for the best possible value. 

 Achane of those guys is the youngest and the best player on the Dolphins offense. Sully said that he was not trading him before the off-season began, and he reiterated that leading up to the NFL Draft, but let’s be honest, what that really means is I’m not actively looking to trade him unless you give me an offer that I can’t refuse.

He said he wasn’t looking to trade wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, but the Denver Broncos called and offered the Dolphins a 1st- and 3rd-round pick in the draft. Honestly, the Dolphins wouldn’t have gotten anything better for him. Sully didn’t draft Achane, so obviously, people thought Sully would entertain offers. 

The thing is, Achane plays running back, and it’s a position that has been devalued over the years, so the Dolphins wouldn’t have gotten much for Achane unless a 1st-round pick was being offered, which wasn’t happening. Sully also said contract extensions wouldn’t happen until after the draft, so he got to work and ironed out a deal with Achane that was fair for both sides.

Achane gets the guaranteed money expected, and the Dolphins keep their best offensive player in his prime. 

It is very refreshing that Sully got ahead of the curve with this deal. Running backs are devalued and don’t get as much money as say, quarterbacks, cornerbacks or edge rushers because they aren’t premium positions and they have a shorter shelf life in the NFL, but with running backs like Jamyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson about to head into the final years of their contracts it’s fair to wonder what they could get. Instead of waiting, Sully got the deal done. 

I asked myself this week whether the Dolphins still had Chris Grier as GM. Would he have done this? I say no. One of my biggest criticisms of Grier as GM was his lack of vision in getting deals done with his young players and in getting ahead of the curve. He lost several players on the Dolphins’ defense after 2023 because of this, and he committed money to players outside the organization. Sully is doing the opposite and is probably the best thing the Dolphins should do, rewarding their young home-grown players who will be cornerstones of this team.

Brewer and Brooks were both free-agent signings a couple of years ago, and with both about to enter their 30s, I’m not sure how Sully will handle those extensions. 

Sully is looking to build a foundation through the draft and reward his home-grown players, rather than paying free agents and then not being able to keep your drafted players. That’s just not sustainable for success. Sully, at the end of the day, is going to be judged by wins and losses, but I like the direction he has this team going, even if they are in cap hell for a year.

He’s not cutting corners or kicking the can down the road with the salary cap. He’s sacrificing short-term pain for the long-term gain. Having the vision to lock up a player like Achane will go a long way to the Dolphins, keeping the players they drafted.