The Miami Dolphins agreed to terms with Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan to become the franchise’s next general manager, the team announced Friday.
“I could not be more excited to welcome Jon-Eric Sullivan as our next general manager,” Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross said in a statement posted to X (formerly known as Twitter) by the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. “Jon-Eric brings a clear vision for how to build and run a football team, founded upon his own experience at a winning organization.”
Sullivan arrives in South Beach after more than two decades with the Packers, where he built a reputation as one of the league’s most respected talent evaluators. He joined the organization in 2003 as a scouting intern, was hired full time in 2004, and steadily climbed the front-office ladder. His roles included college scout, director of college scouting and co-director of player personnel before he was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2022.
During his tenure working closely with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst, Green Bay reached the playoffs six times in the past seven seasons, maintaining one of the NFL’s most consistent roster-building models.
“We will compete no matter the circumstances, with the ultimate goal of competing for division championships and Super Bowls,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Our team building process will be intentional, disciplined and sound. And we will do it together, with collaboration and hard work. It has always been and always will be a team sport. I can’t wait to get started.”
One of Sullivan’s first and most pressing responsibilities with the Dolphins organization will be hiring a new head coach. Mike McDaniel was fired Thursday following four seasons in Miami, including a 7–10 finish in 2025. That marked the Dolphins’ second straight losing season after playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023.
Miami has been linked to former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, though sources told ESPN’s Jeff Darlington that the Dolphins had not yet contacted Harbaugh or his representatives as of Thursday. Another potential candidate with ties to Sullivan is Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who has also drawn interest from the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans.
A significant roster decision also looms at quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa was benched after Week 15 and said earlier this week that he hopes to get a fresh start with a new team in 2026. Any move involving Tagovailoa would be financially complex. He carries a $56.4 million salary cap hit in 2026, and releasing him before June 1 would result in a $99.2 million dead cap charge. A post–June 1 release would spread the dead money over two seasons, with $67.2 million counting against the 2026 cap.
Trading Tagovailoa is another option, but the Dolphins would need to find a partner willing to absorb his contract. How Sullivan approaches the quarterback position will help define the early direction of his tenure.
Sullivan’s football roots run deep. He is the son of Jerry Sullivan, a longtime NFL and college coach who retired in 2021 after more than 40 years in the sport. Jerry Sullivan also spent time with the Dolphins as their wide receivers coach in 2004.
With his hiring, Sullivan joins a notable lineage of former Packers scouts who have gone on to become NFL general managers, including Ted Thompson, Scot McCloughan, John Schneider, Reggie McKenzie, John Dorsey and Gutekunst.
Other candidates considered for Miami’s general manager role included interim GM Champ Kelly, San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, and Los Angeles Chargers assistant general manager Chad Alexander.
Sullivan now takes over a Dolphins organization facing pivotal decisions at head coach and quarterback, with expectations to quickly return the franchise to playoff contention.