The Miami Dolphins are not expected to be a hugely competitive team in 2026, but they were hit hard in the new free agency power rankings.
Free agency will continue on, but the brunt of the signings have been done in the first week. The Miami Dolphins have signed Charlie Heck in Week 2 and might continue to bring in low-cost options to round out the roster ahead of the draft.
That said, the Dolphins are not expected to be a hugely competitive team in 2026 due to their cap constraints. Even worse, they were hit hard in the new power rankings for free agency.
General manager Jon-Eric Sullivan's job was to come in and clean up the severe cap issues that Miami dug itself into with the past regimes. Instead of hoping for a better situation, the team chose to release quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, along with other stars like Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.
These releases, though tough to deal with on paper, were necessary. The Dolphins will just look vastly different come September, and the idea for Sullivan was to start building through the draft.
The good news is the Dolphins have six of the first 111 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. The bad news is that stocking a team with nothing but young talent can get very dicey.
NFL.com's Eric Edholm put together free agency power rankings, and the Dolphins are near the bottom. They rank No. 30, and the reason is due to the construction of the roster thus far.
"I really wasn’t sure they’d be able to afford Malik Willis after cutting Tua Tagovailoa (and taking on $99.2 million in dead money), but they got it done, and I'm intrigued. Willis might not ever lead this team to a Super Bowl, but the way he played the past two seasons in relief, I want to see what he can do with command of an offense and a full offseason to prepare as the starter. Miami shed a lot of skin outside of Tua, too, and there’s a lot that’s still needed to restock some of the shelves. But the Dolphins have six of the first 111 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft and can cross off a number of needs then," Edhold wrote.
Edholm has a major point as the Dolphins did not seem poised to bring in Malik Willis, but it happened anyway. He could be the saving grace for the team, but nobody quite knows what kind of starter he can be due to having limited time under center.
Should Willis play at the level he did when he took over for the injured Jordan Love, the Miami front office will look like geniuses.
There are still some great building blocks on the team as well, with offensive linemen Patrick Paul and Aaron Brewer, running back De'Von Achane, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, linebacker Jordyn Brooks, and many more.
The Dolphins will get younger, but it is full resets that often take a bit of time to bear fruit.
That is not to say that this Miami team cannot surprise everyone and come out and be competitive, but the too many unknown variables make them a gamble, hence their nearly bottom-of-the-barrel ranking.