The Miami Dolphins are 0-2 and will probably be 0-3 by the end of the weekend. That's OK; really, it is. No one expected this team to compete for more than a handful of wins. Week 2 was a tale of two halves, with Miami looking much better in the first and a different team in the second against the 49ers.
There will be more games like this, more weeks like this, but unless you are still thinking that the combination of Tua Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel was going to lead the team to the promised land, a change needed to be made. Jon-Eric Sullivan took one for the team, and as a result, this team is going to look bad...but.
CBS Sports' Pete Prisco sees a different future. A future Dolphins fans should look forward to because, if it works, the Dolphins will never be the Dolphins we have seen in the last 20 years. He is telling Dolphins fans right now: be patient.
"They stink, but they’re building and they’re doing it," Prisco said. "If you’re a Dolphin fan, be patient with this team, it’s coming. They have a lot of good young players."
The Miami Dolphins roster is enough to quiet down disappointed fans for all of 2026
It's understandable to get excited for the season. My brother's a Dolphins fan as well, and when he told me that he and his wife truly believed this team was going to surprise everyone, I laughed. Last Sunday he called and said, "Yep, you were right."
Fans only have to look at this roster to see why this team isn't going to be good this year. Stick with us here and give this a look; it explains more than you realize.
- 12 rookies are on the roster
- 6 players were on an NFL roster last year, but were primarily PS players
- 9 players are entering season 2, including 6 of last year's draft picks
- 8 players are entering their 3rd season
- 4 players are entering their 4th season
Let's take a look at this group of 39 players on the 53-man roster. 12 rookies is a lot, and seven of them are considered starters or consistent contributors. The six players who are considered "year one players" are guys who spent their first season on an NFL practice squad. They come with little or no experience.
The interesting part of this group are the 12 players that make up the 3rd and 4th year players.
Third year players
- Marcellas Dial Jr. - DB - 7 games of experience (2024); did not play last year; 60 def. snaps
- Jarrett Kingston - OG - 11 games, no starts, 33 total offensive snaps
- Andrew Meyer - C - Undrafted - 2 games, 1 start, 55 offensive snaps
- Caedan Wallace - OT - 12 games, 2 starts
The other four players from that group are Patrick Paul, Jaylen Wright, Chop Robinson, and Malik Washington.
Fourth year players
- Ryan Miller - WR - Undrafted - 27 games, 6 starts, 15 receptions
- Zayne Anderson - S - Undrafted - 6 years but only 4 credited, 49 games, 3 starts
- Robert Beal Jr., - DL - 27 games, 1 start
- JuJu Brents - CB - 20 games, 11 starts
- DeVon Achane - RB - Extended
Starters from this group
- 6 rookie starters - Rodriguez, Johnson, Proctor, Taaffee, Douglas, Bell
- 0 starters from 1-year experienced players
- 4 starters entering their second full season
- 3 starters entering their 3rd full season
- 2 starters entering their 4th full season
We did not look at who is starting on special teams, but this young group represents 15 of the 22 starters on offense and defense, with six of them rookies. When you look at the 53-man roster as a whole, the players with four years or less account for all but 14 players on the roster.
Let that sink in for a second. Only 14 players on the Dolphins roster have more than 4 years of NFL experience. Of those 14, only six starters have more than 7 years of experience. That makes up 21 of the 22 starters on the Dolphins roster this year.
The roster contract build
To further drive this youth movement home, the Dolphins will enter 2027 with 40 players under contract. That means 13 players are currently either playing on one-year deals or have contracts expiring. 40 players locked down for the future sounds good, but the numbers show something different.
Of those 40 players, only 10, according to Over The Cap, have guaranteed money. That means 30 players on the roster could be cut with minimal cap hits, and the two who carry the most are Zach Sieler ($8 million if released) and Austin Jackson ($14 million).
Jackson's contract will actually be voided at the end of this year, and it is unlikely the Dolphins will give him a new contract.
This is important to note: the Dolphins will have more than $100 million in cap space next season. That's after Tua Tagovailoa's $43.8 million hit and Bradly Chubb's $12.8 million hit. Another $56 million comes off the books in 2028.
Sullivan's plan was simple: take the knocks this year, break it apart, build it how he wants it, and move forward. The Dolphins are not going to stop trying to win, but looking at the experience, the salaries, and the quality of the starters, it's easier to understand why Pete Prisco is preaching patience.
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