Kyle McCord on Sullivan’s message, where he stands in his transition to Dolphins

Quarterback Kyle McCord’s Dolphins career began with a very reassuring message from the team’s general manager.

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And now, nearly three weeks after being acquired from Green Bay, his suspicion has been reinforced: This offense very much suits his skill set.

“The offense, for what I do, fits my game,” he said.

“A lot of my strong suits are [accentuated] in this offense — being able to see the whole field and having a lot of options and answers across the board. It’s similar to what we did in Green Bay. Even though I wasn’t here for training camp, I still got a lot of reps in the same type of system in Green Bay, which definitely helps.”

For more than two weeks, McCord has spent most nights studying the playbook, to familiarize himself with every nuance of the offense should he be needed to fill in for Malik Willis.

“It’s been a big mental load,” he said, adding that he has good grasp of coordinator Bobby Slowik’s system. “It has been a smooth transition.”

McCord – who has spent a lot of time studying Tom Brady and Joe Burrow — cited three strengths that he believes give him a chance to succeed as an NFL quarterback:

“Seeing the whole field, throwing with anticipation and getting the ball out of my hands,” he said. “Those were three things at Syracuse I did a really good job of and that’s why I think we were able to be so explosive in the passing game.”

In his final year at Syracuse (2024), McCord ranked No. 1 nationally in the regular season in total passing yards (4,326), passing attempts (558), completions (367), completions per game (30.58), and passing yards per game (360). He was fourth in passing touchdowns (29) and finished 10th in Heisman Trophy.

Months after drafting him in the sixth round, the Eagles waived him late in training camp in 2025 but re-signed him to the practice squad and he spent last season working with then-Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who is the Dolphins’ passing game coordinator.

McCord threw for 446 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, on 46-for-70 accuracy, for the Packers in preseason.

Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who traded a 2028 sixth-round pick to Green Bay for McCord on Aug. 30, greeted McCord with a message that made him feel very much wanted here.

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“Basically saying he really liked me last year when he was up in Green Bay, liked me coming out of school and what I did in the preseason up there solidified I can do it at the pro level,” McCord said. “He told me he was a big fan of mine.”

This and that

Dolphins safety Kyle Louis is expected to miss a few weeks with what ESPN reported is a sprained MCL.

▪ During a Zoom session with reporters on Monday, Zach Sieler and Dante Trader Jr. raved about how Jacob Rodriguez handled his first start at linebacker and as the player relaying coach Jeff Hafley’s defensive calls.

“His poise is crazy,” Trader said. “He’s very, very calm. His presence is calming to everybody else. To be a rookie, to go out there with the green dot, making all the tackles, commanding the defense, and just being a dawg at the end of the day, it’s infectious.”

▪ The Dolphins restructured four contracts to free up an additional $2.5 million cap space and leaving Miami with $8.7 million in space should the team need it this season.

The players who had slight restructures, according to spotrac:

Right tackle Austin Jackson (the team converted $1.51 million of his per-game bonus, creating $1.2 million in cap space).

Tight end Greg Dulcich (team converted $341,000 of his per-game bonus, creating $272,000 of cap).

Cornerback JuJu Brents (team converted $792,000 of his salary, creating $634,000 of cap space).

Defensive lineman DL Zach Sieler (converted $511,000 of his per-game bonuses, creating $408,000 of cap space).

The Dolphins, at the moment, have $100 million in 2027 cap space, per overthecap.com. But for next few years, the cap won’t be a concern because the Dolphins will have a young, relatively cheap roster and want to build their team primarily through the draft.

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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 12:08 PM.