![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2263326785-5-e1774295114918.jpg\")
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Jalen Tolbert revealed the message that Miami gave him after signing<\/p>\n
It is no secret that the Miami Dolphins<\/a> are not expected to be contenders in the 2026 season. A majority of their cap space is allocated to players who are no longer part of the team, and they will be relying on a quarterback with six career NFL<\/a> starts to lead them. However, don\u2019t tell Dolphins players that the team is rebuilding because that is not the message that is being conveyed.<\/p>\n Despite moves indicating that the Dolphins will likely not put together a playoff-caliber roster next season, general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan has refused to call Miami\u2019s situation a rebuild. <\/a>Instead, what he\u2019s said is, \u201cWhat I want to do is build a foundation. That\u2019s my responsibility. Something that\u2019s sustainable over time. We\u2019re not looking for quick fixes here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Regarding the term rebuild, Sullivan added, \u201cAll the r words \u2013 retool, rebuild, refocus \u2013 I don\u2019t like that because that gives the connotation of like \u2018Hey, we\u2019re mailing it in this year.\u2019 That\u2019s 100% not what\u2019s going on. We\u2019re here to compete, play our ass off, try to win football games as we build this thing out. That\u2019s the culture we want to be. We want people that embrace that underdog mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins Send Clear Message to Free Agent Wide Receiver<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins\u2019 free agent addition Jalen Tolbert was asked whether the team had shared with him that the season was a rebuild. He said<\/a>, \u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t told that, and honestly it doesn\u2019t matter to me. I don\u2019t think it would matter to a lot of guys in the locker room just because, like I said, we\u2019re all competitors. We\u2019ve all gotten here from hard work, and this was a goal of ours for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Some around the league have wondered<\/a> why the Dolphins would move some players this offseason, particularly wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who was under contract through the 2028 season. Miami must now figure out a way to create a solid environment around quarterback Malik Willis if they want their three-year, $67 million<\/a> risk to pay off.<\/p>\n Even wide receiver Jalen Tolbert admitted to being surprised about the Waddle trade as he told the Miami Herald, \u201cI could definitely say I was surprised,\u201d Tolbert said, \u201cIt\u2019s just another opportunity for myself and the other guys in the room to get more opportunities, get more touches or whatever it may be, earn more playing time.\u201d<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins Wide Receivers<\/p>\n The Dolphins\u2019 wide receiver room currently lacks proven players at the position. No player on the roster had more receiving yards than running back De\u2019Von Achane last season. While Tolbert had a strong 2024 season with 610 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, the Cowboys<\/a> still felt the need to improve at the position, as they traded for wide receiver George Pickens. That trade led to Tolbert\u2019s role in 2025 being dramatically reduced as he totaled only 203 receiving yards.<\/p>\n Miami\u2019s other free agent addition, Tutu Atwell faced a similar situation last season with the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>. Atwell was fresh off a career-high 562 receiving yards in 2024 before the team signed Davante Adams in free agency, which decreased Atwell\u2019s role and resulted in him totaling only 192 receiving yards last season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Dolphins\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Jalen Tolbert revealed the message that Miami gave him after signing It is no secret that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-202925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}