The Miami Dolphins are walking into the season with a roster that looks more like a warning label than a contender, and the numbers behind it are jarring. They open Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, which may be their best shot to dodge a winless run, before a brutal early stretch that includes the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals.
No team has finished 0-17 since the league moved to a 17-game schedule in 2021, and the last winless NFL season belongs to the 0-16 Cleveland Browns in 2017. Miami has a real chance to put itself in that kind of company.
The cap sheet alone tells a wild story. The Dolphins are carrying an NFL-record $183 million in dead salary cap hit this season, which means they’re paying that much for players no longer on the roster.
That number is bigger than what they’re spending on the 53-man roster itself, which comes in at $104 million. Even stranger, over 60% of their 2026 salary cap is tied to dead money, and Spotrac says no team has ever topped 45% since the stat started being tracked in 2011.
A big chunk of that dead money is tied to Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Jalen Ramsey, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bradley Chubb and Terron Armstead. The Dolphins are also paying more for Tagovailoa - $55 million this year and $99 million over the next two years - than they are for their entire offense, which sits at $52 million. That $52 million is last in the NFL for active offensive cap spending.
The roster itself is short on proof. New head coach Jeff Hafley has no prior NFL head coaching experience, and the team around him is loaded with players who are still trying to establish themselves. Miami’s players have logged the fewest games in the league at 1,477, the fewest Pro Bowls with one - De'Von Achane in 2025 - and the fewest starts by any team to open a season in recorded NFL history, dating back at least to 2000.
The Dolphins also brought in a league-high 13 draft picks, and several of them may be forced into action quickly. First-round guard Kadyn Proctor, first-round cornerback Chris Johnson, second-round linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, third-round rookie Caleb Douglas and fifth-round safety Michael Taaffe could all be on the field early. That’s a lot of first-year pressure for a team already light on certainty.
Miami’s active roster is the youngest in the league at an average age of 25. It also has the most undrafted players with 18, the most rookies with 14 and the fewest 30-year-olds with just two.
Depth is another problem spot. Malik Willis was added this offseason, but the quarterback room behind him is paper-thin.
Kyle McCord, a 2026 sixth-round pick, is listed as QB2 despite never having been on a team outside of offseason or practice squad stints, and the 23-year-old has not taken a snap in the league. Brady Cook sits third on the depth chart after going undrafted in 2025 and spending last season with the New York Jets, where he played in five games, started four and went 0-4.
He completed 57.5% of his passes with two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
At receiver, the top names listed are Malik Washington, Douglas and Chris Bell. Washington is in his third year and has yet to top 350 receiving yards in a season.
Douglas is a rookie, and Bell is also a rookie coming off an ACL injury suffered in November. The secondary has similar issues, with Miami leaning heavily on rookies and players who still have to prove they can be trusted.
The Dolphins’ offseason approach adds to the suspicion that this is more of a reset than a push. Their free-agent signings were all one-year deals except for Willis, a sign the team may be holding this year together while looking toward a bigger overhaul in 2027.
That’s reflected in the betting outlook, too. Miami is only favored to win one game: Week 12 at home against the New York Jets.
And even beyond this season, the drought hangs over everything. The Dolphins have the longest active playoff win drought in the league, having not won a postseason game since 2000, the year after Dan Marino retired. Right now, it’s hard to see this team ending that streak.
In Other News...
Dolphins Just Got A Tougher Week 1 Problem In Las Vegas
The Dolphins Week 1 trip to Las Vegas just picked up a little more edge. Ashton Jeanty, the Raiders running back who had been dealing with an ankle sprain in training camp, has been officially cleared and is off the injury report heading into the season opener, giving the home team another weapon to sort out on defense.
For Miami, it means the opening-game scouting report got a little less comfortable. Jeanty is expected to be part of a Raiders offense led by new head coach Klint Kubiak, and his availability gives Las Vegas a cleaner path to leaning on its run game right from the start of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Tua Tagovailoas Latest Setback Just Put Week 1 In Doubt
An already tricky preseason took another turn when Kevin Stefanski said Tua Tagovailoa will not be available for Week 1, leaving Miami with a real question mark at the most important position on the field. Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury in practice, and with no clear return timeline yet, the Dolphins are heading into the opener having to adjust their plans on the fly.
Stefanski also said the latest issue is separate from the back problem Tagovailoa dealt with before, which at least narrows the concern but does not make the situation any easier for Miami. With Cooper Rush set to start the season opener and Tagovailoa sidelined for now, the Dolphins are left waiting to see how long this setback lingers and how much it alters the early weeks of their season. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Rookies Jersey Change Carries A Heartbreaking Personal Meaning
Kevin Coleman Jr. made a subtle change before the regular season, switching from No. 83 to No. 21 as he settled into life with the Dolphins. On the surface, it is the kind of roster note that can get lost in the shuffle of camp and preseason, but for Coleman the number carries a deeply personal connection that reaches far beyond football.
Coleman chose 21 to honor his late brother, who passed away on October 21, 2008, giving the jersey a meaning that will travel with him every time he takes the field. For Miami, it is another reminder that rookie seasons are built on more than playbooks and position battles, with personal history often riding along as the Dolphins head toward the new year. [Read more 🡒]