Dolphins, Packers' Jon-Eric Sullivan Agree to GM Contract amid John Harbaugh HC Rumors

The Miami Dolphins have their next general manager.

The Dolphins finalized a contract to hire Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan as their new GM, with ESPN's Adam Schefter first reporting the news.

The Dolphins have had a general manager vacancy since they parted ways with Chris Grier in October. Grier had been with the AFC East team since 2000 and was the general manager dating back to 2016.

While that tenure included back-to-back playoff appearances during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Miami has trended in the wrong direction since with an 8-9 record in 2024 and 7-10 record in 2025 that improved after Grier's departure.

Miami was 2-7 when it decided to make a change.

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The front office cast a wide net. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported the second phase of the search included in-person interviews with Sullivan, Chad Alexander of the Los Angeles Chargers, Josh Williams of the San Francisco 49ers and interim general manager Champ Kelly.

Alexander was a notable name given his connection to John Harbaugh since they were both with the Baltimore Ravens together for an extended period. While Alexander was with the Chargers and New York Jets more recently, he spent 20 years in Baltimore.

Seeing how the Dolphins also fired Mike McDaniel and needed a new head coach, it wasn't difficult to speculate about a possible Alexander and Harbaugh connection in Miami. The question now is if Harbaugh will remain a top name with Sullivan running the search.

Following McDaniel's firing, The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported team owner Stephen Ross and other members of the front office asked general manager candidates during interviews to both evaluate McDaniel as a head coach and outline a list of possible other coaching candidates.

ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported the decision to fire McDaniel was "independent of Harbaugh's availability" and "would have been made either way."

The coaching vacancy is the first order of business for Miami's new GM, but it is far from the only major decision this offseason:

There was a time when Tua Tagovailoa was among the best quarterbacks in the league when he was a Pro Bowler who led the NFL in passing yards in 2023. However, he was 32nd in the league in QBR in 2025, per Pro Football Reference, and threw a career-high 15 interceptions in 14 games.

Miami will need better quarterback play if it realistically hopes to compete in an AFC East that has Josh Allen and Drake Maye in place, which means the offseason decision will be under a microscope.

And now it will be up to the new front office to put together that roster that can compete for playoff spots for years to come.