Ben Sims signing highlights Miami’s tight end need and an unresolved Darren Waller question

Miami is signing tight end ben sims as it looks to replenish a position group that just took a hit. The move follows the loss of tight end Julian Hill to the New England Patriots on Wednesday, and it lands while Darren Waller remains on the market. The gap: the context documents urgency and an addition, but it does not confirm whether Miami’s pursuit of another option has changed.

Miami Dolphins add Ben Sims after Julian Hill departure to New England Patriots

The confirmed sequence in the context is straightforward. The Miami Dolphins lost tight end Julian Hill to the New England Patriots on Wednesday. With that departure, the context states the Dolphins “needed to make an addition to the room, ” explicitly framing tight end as a position of need.

In response, the Dolphins are signing tight end ben sims to “help fill out the position group. ” The context ties the signing directly to roster depth, not to a declared change in strategy, role, or intended usage. What is confirmed is a personnel addition at tight end and the immediate roster event that preceded it.

Yet the context also leaves key operational details unconfirmed. No timing beyond “Wednesday” appears for Hill’s move, and no time of day is provided in ET. The Dolphins’ planned deployment of ben sims is also not stated, and the context does not describe any other tight end additions or departures beyond Hill.

Contract and career record: 2026 one-year deal and prior stops with Packers and Vikings

The context provides specific contract framing for the Dolphins’ move: ben sims is signing a one-year contract for the 2026 season. Beyond the term and season, the context does not confirm financial terms, guarantees, or roster mechanics.

It also lays out a documented path through multiple teams. Sims, 25, signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent out of Baylor following the 2023 NFL Draft. He was waived after camp and then “caught on with Green Bay, ” where he spent the next two and a half seasons. During the 2025 season, the Packers waived Sims, and he was later claimed off waivers by the Vikings.

On-field production is limited but specified. In 2025, Sims appeared in 11 games for the Packers and Vikings, catching three passes for 30 yards and two touchdowns. The context does not confirm snap counts, blocking usage, special teams role, or whether any 2026 performance expectations shaped Miami’s decision.

Still, the record as presented supports a narrow, evidence-based characterization: Miami is adding a player with recent regular-season appearances and modest receiving output, after a tight end departure created an immediate need for depth.

Darren Waller remains on the market, but Miami’s next step is not confirmed

Alongside the confirmed signing, the context includes another relevant fact: Darren Waller is “still on the market. ” Placed next to the note that the Dolphins “needed to make an addition, ” this creates the article’s central tension. The Dolphins are acting to fill out the tight end room, while another available veteran tight end remains unsigned.

What the context confirms is limited to coexistence: Waller remains available, and Miami is signing ben sims. What remains unclear is whether Miami’s move is meant to complement a potential additional acquisition, replace the idea of pursuing Waller, or simply address minimum depth after Hill’s exit. The context does not confirm any communication between Miami and Waller, nor does it indicate that Waller was ever a target.

Another gap sits in the timeline. Hill’s departure is pegged to Wednesday, and the Sims signing is presented as a response, but the context does not confirm whether Miami had been planning to add at tight end before Hill left, or whether the move accelerated because of that loss.

The evidence threshold to resolve the uncertainty is specific: the context would need to confirm either a subsequent tight end addition, an expressed change in approach to the position, or a documented decision that the Sims signing closes the immediate need created by Hill’s departure. If a later move is confirmed, it would establish whether Miami treated ben sims as the primary replacement step or as one part of a larger plan at tight end.