The Dolphins Have Questions at Tight End

The 2025 campaign saw many ups and downs, and the tight end position epitomized that inconsistency. After a stellar showing in 2024, tight end Jonnu Smith was shipped off to Pittsburgh alongside Jalen Ramsey.

To fill the void left by Smith, the team traded for, at the time, retired tight end Darren Waller. 

Waller struggled to regain his footing in the league, playing in only 9 games and compiling a forgettable statline of 24 receptions, 283 yards, and 6 touchdowns. A big reason why Waller joined the team in the first place was former offensive coordinator Frank Smith, with whom the pair had worked together on the Raiders. With Smith leaving for Minnesota to be their assistant head coach, it’s likely Waller’s time in Miami will soon come to an end. 

Miami has already started to make moves, signing former Jets seventh-round pick Zack Kuntz to a futures contract. Kuntz split his time in college between Penn State and Old Dominion before being drafted by the Jets and spending his rookie season on their practice squad.

He’s a mountain of a man at 6’7”, 255 pounds with great speed for his size, having run a 4.55 before the draft. 

That being said he’s a project at best, in his draft profile on BleacherReport they said he had an “Ideal build for the position which helps make him a worthwhile developmental prospect”.  They weren’t shy about his negatives, however, pointing out that he had “poor ability to work through contact during routes… poor blocker, often approaches blocks with hesitance. Play strength subpar”. I’m hopeful that Kuntz can put it all together with Miami, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he were cut during training camp. 

Looking at the list of pending free agents, there is really only one that jumps out at me. That is, of course, Kyle Pitts. The Dolphins were linked to Pitts by many mock drafts at pick number 3 ahead of the 2021 draft.

Ultimately Mi,ami would trade back from the 3rd overall pick and use the 6th overall pick on Jaylen Waddle.

However, with Pitts being a free agent, the possibility of having both him and Waddle is tantalizing. 

I will acknowledge that Pitts has not lived up to his pre-draft hype. He was touted as a game changer, but outside of his rookie season, where he surpassed 1,000 yards, and last year, where he had 88 receptions for 928 yards and 5 touchdowns, he has not lived up to that label.

The fact that he is only 25 is a huge advantage for him. It also helps that Arthur Smith was his head coach for most of his tenure with Atlanta; the man has never found a tight end he couldn’t make irrelevant. Look no further than Jonnu Smith’s production falling off a cliff in Pittsburgh this past season with Arthur Smith as his offensive coordinator. 

There are plenty of interesting possibilities for Miami at tight end heading into next season. As the offseason truly begins after Sunday’s Super Bowl, things will start to become clearer. Perhaps they will take a look at Kenyon Sadiq out of Oregon at pick 11 in April.

One thing is certain: they can’t get much worse production out of the position than they did last season.

You can follow me on YouTube @WickedGoodEverything and X @TheFakeBMarr