The Miami Dolphins, after firing general manager Chris Grier in the middle of the season, finished their 2025 campaign with a 7-10 record and in third place in the AFC East.
Since then, they’ve fired head coach Mike McDaniel as well, brought in a new regime to run things for the foreseeable future and made several key changes to their roster which will drastically impact how they perform in 2026.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Seth Walder released his offseason report cards for all 32 teams, and he gave the Dolphins an A- for their moves.
Walder highlighted the signing of quarterback Malik Willis to a three-year, $67.5 million contract as the best moved that Miami made this year, but he admitted that the lack of talent around him kept the Dolphins from receiving an A or A+ this year.
“Considering the Dolphins rank third in 2027 cap space, per OverTheCap.com, could they have added a middle-class free agent at wide receiver, edge, tight end, cornerback or safety to raise the floor? Sure. But it’s hard to knock them too much considering how intentional they’ve been about their rebuild,” Walder wrote.
The Dolphins probably won’t be competing for a playoff spot in 2026, but they have some building blocks in place and seem to have a regime that knows what they want their team to look like going forward. They just need to make it happen, which is obviously easier said than done.
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins receive incredible grade in 2026 offseason report card
Reporting by Mike Masala, Dolphins Wire / Dolphins Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Masala, Dolphins Wire | USA TODAY Network
