The “March for Arch” chatter started the moment Miami shipped Jaylen Waddle to Denver. It has not let up since. But PFSN’s Football Debate Club spent its Dolphins preview pushing back on the premise, with guest Simon Clancy and NFL analyst Jacob Infante arriving at the same conclusion from opposite directions.
The Dolphins aren’t tanking. And per the panel, they don’t need to.
Why the Malik Willis Contract Ends the Dolphins Tank-for-Arch-Manning Debate
Clancy’s argument was about roster construction. Miami had a much cleaner path to the bottom of the standings than the one it actually chose.
“If they were going to tank for Arch or for Dante Moore or Trinidad Chambliss or Drake Lindsey or CJ [Carr] or any of these quarterbacks, they would have just gone with Quinn Ewers,” Clancy said on Football Debate Club.
“They would have gone with Quinn Ewers and Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski, and they’d have played the season out that way. They didn’t. They went with Malik Willis. And I think that underlies the fact that tanking is not going to be part of the Dolphins in 2026.”
The receipts support him. Jon-Eric Sullivan handed Willis a three-year, $67.5 million contract with $45 million guaranteed at the start of free agency. The structure carries an $8.7 million 2026 cap hit, then a fully guaranteed $21.5 million salary in 2027 and a $2 million roster bonus in March 2028. Sullivan and Jeff Hafley spent two seasons with Willis in Green Bay. They didn’t pay him to keep a seat warm.
Clancy’s framing also dodges a calendar problem the tank crowd keeps glossing over. Arch Manning isn’t in the 2026 NFL Draft. Cooper Manning confirmed in December that his son is returning to Texas for the 2026 college season. The earliest Miami can pick him is April 2027, and that assumes he declares instead of running back another year of NIL money in Austin.
Why the Dolphins’ 2026 Schedule Could Land Them Arch Manning Anyway
Infante took a different route to the same destination. Miami doesn’t have to engineer a high pick because the schedule already might.
“I don’t necessarily think they’ll need to tank. It’s a little bit of a cop out answer, but they face a difficult schedule,” Infante said. “The PFSN playoff predictor has the Dolphins with the fifth-best odds to get the number one pick in the draft. I certainly think it’s possible they do get it. They got a lot of young talent on this roster, but at the same time, there’s not a lot of proven veteran play.”
The slate justifies the math. Miami draws the entire NFC North, where every team finished above .500 in 2025, plus the AFC West as its cross-conference matchup. The home schedule includes Kansas City, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Chargers. Road trips include Denver, Indianapolis, Green Bay and San Francisco. The Dolphins’ combined opponent winning percentage from 2025 sits at .542, second only to Chicago’s strength of schedule.
Infante’s bigger point was that the route matters less than the destination. Whether a top-five pick comes from a 3-14 collapse or a 6-11 grind, Miami should treat the outcome the same.
“So whether it’s Arch Manning or if it’s my current QB1, Dante Moore, I’m looking at a quarterback should be the move,” Infante said. “And if that means going to the number one pick, then I think that should be looked at as a net positive, in my opinion. It’s an embarrassment of riches at the top of this quarterback board.”
Host Cam Mellor gave the round to Clancy, citing the Willis signing as the cleanest evidence the front office isn’t trying to lose. The roster moves point to a rebuild with intent. The schedule could still hand Miami the same prize. The Dolphins just don’t need a “March for Arch” mantra to get there.
