The expectation has been that Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur would be safe following this season, but that expectation took a hit on Saturday night.
That's because not only did the Packers lose in the wild-card game against the Chicago Bears, they suffered a brutal collapse in the contest.
If LaFleur is indeed cut loose by the Packers, it makes total sense to peg him as a candidate for the Dolphins' head-coach vacancy given his connection to Miami's newest general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan.
Of course, Sullivan worked with LaFleur while the former was still with the Packers as the team's vice president of player personnel, and as we know connections are important when it comes to hires in the NFL.
And, if the Dolphins land another former Packer in LaFleur as their next head coach, that could lock Malik Willis in as Miami's starting quarterback in 2026.
Willis didn't pan out with the Tennessee Titans after being a third-round pick, but he has managed to revive his career while serving as Jordan Love's backup and looks like a completely different player from his days in Nashville.
As a result of his ascension, Willis, who is a pending free agent, figures to garner a lot of interest from quarterback-needy teams, like the Dolphins, for example.
Miami still has Tua Tagovailoa and Quinn Ewers on the roster, but Tagovailoa's future with the Dolphins is extremely bleak after he struggled in 2025 and was benched, and the jury is still very much out on Ewers.
Sullivan hiring or not, it's likely Miami would've had interest in Willis anyway, but their chances of landing him in free agency only increased with the Sullivan move, and those chances will increase even more if LaFleur lands in South Beach.
After all, Sullivan likely played a role in bringing Willis in, and the Liberty product clearly benefitted greatly from playing under LaFleur, so chances are Willis will want to keep that relationship going if he can.
Willis is far from guaranteed to be the long-term answer the Dolphins need, but he has shown plenty of promise and he's still young enough at 26 to stick around for the long haul.
The problem with LaFleur going to Miami is the Packers coach is going to garner a ton of interest from the several teams that need a new head coach.
But with Sullivan on board, Miami could have an inside track.
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