Miami Dolphins 2023 - Latest News, Schedule, Roster, Rumors, Injury Updates & More

The Miami Dolphins are an American football team based in the Miami Metropolitan area. They are one of the three NFL franchises based in Florida, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Jacksonville Jaguars being the other two. The Dolphins compete in the NFL as part of the AFC East.

About the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins were founded by lawyer Joseph Robbie and television show host Danny Thomas in 1966. They were the ninth team to fall under the AFL extension and joined the NFL when it merged with the AFC in 1970. Throughout their history, they have been given nicknames such as 'The Phins' and the 'No-Name Defense.' The latter addresses their robust defense of 1972, the most successful year in the franchise's history.

The franchise has been to the Super Bowl on five occasions, winning two in 1973 and 1974. They have made 24 playoff appearances in their 58 seasons. The Dolphins are 14 times NFC East division winner and five times that of the AFC Conference. They last missed on a playoff spot in the 2021 NFL season.

The Dolphins form the AFC East division with the New York Jets, New England Patriots, and the Buffalo Bills. Mike McDaniel is the head coach of the franchise, having joined the team in 2022 as their fourteenth head coach. The Dolphins comprise an overall 13-9-0 record under his command and have a 0-1 playoff tally. Don Shula is the most successful coach in their history with a 274-147-2 record and two consecutive Super Bowl victories.

American real estate developer Stephen Michael Ross is the current owner of the franchise. He bought a 95% stake in the Dolphins for $1 billion from past owner Wayne Huizenga. The franchise also has some celebrities as its minority owners, including Jennifer Lopez's ex-husband Marc Anthony, Tennis queen Serena Williams and her sister Venus Williams, and American singer Fergie.

The Dolphins are the 11th richest NFL franchise as of 2023, with a market value of $5.7 billion. They had the second-highest valuation growth in 2022 out of any teams in the league. The team recorded a game-attendee average of 66,230 in 2022, 25th in the league. They have an Instagram following of 1.6 million and an X (Twitter) following of 1.2 million. Compared to the rest of the NFL, the Dolphins have a mid-sized fanbase.

Franchise info in a nutshell

2023 schedule

Despite making a strong start to the 2023 season, the Dolphins have fumbled lately. They recently endured their second loss of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles, making them 5-2. The Dolphins still have a serious chance of cracking the playoffs, but head coach Mike McDaniel will need to go back to the drawing board to make sure it stays like that. A repetition of the Eagles game can't be accepted.

Their complete schedule for the season is as follows:

2023 team roster

Quarterback [QB]

• Tua Tagovailoa


• Skylar Thompson


• Mike White

Running Back [RB]

• De?Von Achane


• Salvon Ahmed


• Chris Brooks


• Raheem Mostert


• Jeff Wilson Jr. (Inactive)

Fullback [FB]

• Alec Ingold

Wide Receiver [WR]

• Braxton Berrios


• Robbie Chosen


• Chase Claypool


• Tyreek Hill


• Jaylen Waddle


• Cedric Wilson Jr.


• River Cracraft (Inactive)

Tight End [TE]

• Julian Hill


• Tyler Kroft


• Durham Smythe

Guard [G]

• Lester Cotton

Tackle [T]

• Kendall Lamm


• Kion Smith


• Terron Armstead (Inactive)

Defensive Back [DB]

• Elijah Campbell


• Keion Crossen (Inactive)

Defensive End [DE]

• Emmanuel Ogbah

Defensive Tackle [DT]

• Raekwon Davis


• Da?Shawn Hand


• Brandon Pili


• Zach Sieler


• Christian Wilkins

Cornerback [CB]

• Eli Apple


• Justin Bethel


• Xavien Howard


• Kelvin Joseph


• Kader Kohou


• Parry Nickerson


• Cam Smith


• Jalen Ramsey (Inactive)

Linebacker [LB]

• Jerome Baker


• Bradley Chubb


• Cameron Goode


• David Long Jr.


• Jaelan Phillips


• Duke Riley


• Channing Tindall


• Andrew Van Ginkel


• Zeke Vandenburgh (Inactive)

Offensive Linebacker [OL]

• Liam Eichenberg


• Robert Hunt


• Austin Jackson


• Connor Williams


• Isaiah Wynn


• Robert Jones (Inactive)

Safety [S]

• DeShon Elliott


• Jevon Holland


• Brandon Jones

Kicker [K]

• Jason Sanders

Punter [P]

• Jake Bailey

Long Snapper [LS]

• Blake Ferguson

Championships

The Miami Dolphins are five-time Super Bowl finalists and have won the trophy two times. They are 14-time winners of the AFC East Division and five times that of the AFC Conference.

Super Bowl Championships: 2

Conference Championships: 5

Divisional Championships: 14

2023 Key Players

Tagovailoa was the fifth overall pick for the Dolphins in the 2022 NFL Draft, and he has a $30.3 million contract with the franchise for four years. Since starting for the team in 2021, Tagovailoa has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league, if not the best. The 25-year-old has tremendous passing accuracy and a superhuman-like volume of throws. He had a historic 2022 season which saw him lead the league in yards thrown per attempt, only to be bettered in 2023. Just five games into the season, Tagovailoa has already thrown for 1614 yards, and boasts an absurd 9.7 yards per attempt, shattering the rest of the competition and his own previous year's record. The quarterback forms arguably the most feared attacking duo in the NFL right now, along with wide receiver Tyreek Hill.

Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins' second jewel in the crown, was purchased by the franchise in 2022 in a trade with the Chiefs. Hill is the league's most notorious wide receiver and is simply unstoppable at times which is quite often. Despite his considerably short stature at 5'10", the wide receiver is as fast as a v16-powered turbocharged Bugatti on a race track that simply refuses to brake and slips through the defense. Combined with QB Tagovailoa, Hill produces one of the league's deadliest attacks of recent times as the WR has 651 yards and five touchdowns to his name after just five games.

A 36th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Devon signed a four-year, $8.7 million contract with the Dolphins. In his first year as a starter, Jevon made ESPN's Top 10 list of safeties. His individual brilliance, especially tackling prowess is a standout feature of the safety. He managed 165 tackles, 17 defended throws, 8 QB hits, 4 interceptions, and 4 sacks in his first two years. In the current season, Jevon is 2nd in the league in solo tackles (34) and 6th in targets (19). With strong charges and presence of mind, the Dolphins' gatekeeper has kept enemy offenses at bay for the majority of the season.

Practice and Match Ground

The Dolphins train at the Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens. The facility was opened in August of 2023 and is within walking distance from the Hard Rock Stadium. It cost an impressive $135 million to build and includes a 125,000-square-foot training facility and a 92,2000-square-foot indoor field. The facility borders the team's old outdoor training field as well.

The team plays its home games at the Hard Rock Stadium located in Miami, Florida. The Dolphins competed out of the Miami Orange Bowl until 1986, the year before Hard Rock Stadium was inaugurated. Originally opened as Joe Robbie Stadium in 1987, the venue changed its name over the years. In 2016, the Franchise sold the stadium's naming rights to Hard Rock Cafe for $250 million, hence the name. The construction took two years and cost $115 million to complete at the time. It has a seating capacity of 63,326 and is located at the Miami Gardens in Florida. Its official address is 347 Don Shula Drive, Miami Gardens, FL 33056, US, and is a five-minute walk across the street from the training facility.

Mascot

The Miami Dolphins have a Dolphin costumed human named T.D. as their mascot. It was first introduced to the world in 1997, by former head coach Jimmy Johnson. The origin of the name T.D. remains somewhat mysterious, as some believe it stands for 'Touchdown' and others refer to it as 'The Dolphin.' The franchise's first mascot was a TV star female Dolphin named Flipper. She was born in 1956 and was the team's mascot from 1966 to 1968, and lived in a fish tank situated at the East end of the Orange Bowl Stadium during that time. Flipper died in 1997, making way for the current mascot, T.D.

Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame

Founded in 1963 in Canton, Ohio, the Pro Football Hall of Fame serves as a prestigious institution that pays tribute to the key figures who have left an indelible mark on the history of professional football. Annually, a new class of enshrines is inducted into the Hall of Fame, featuring the sport's most iconic athletes, coaches, and contributors. Being one of the most successful franchises in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins have 17 names in their Hall of Fame who they recognize as the most influential entities in franchise history. Iconic coach late Don Shula is the most notable inductee and former linebacker Zack Thomas is the latest addition to the list.

FAQs

Quarterback Dan Marino is unanimously recognized as the greatest player in the franchise's history. Marino player for the team for 17 years, breaking every possible record in sight. The first player to throw over 5,000 yards, throwing for a then-record 48 touchdowns in a single season, earning nine Pro-Bowl entries and the 1984 NFL MVP award, there's not much to counter his status as the greatest Dolphin of all time. The quarterback finished his career with 61,361 yards, 420 TDs, 8358 attempts, and 4967 pass completions. On top of that, he passed for 3000+ yards for 13 years, 4000+ yards for six years, 300+ yards game 63 times, and 400+ yards game 13 times. Marino was known for his enormous arm strength and exceptional passing accuracy, and many of his records took over two decades to get broken by modern-day greats.

Don Shula is considered by most as the greatest Dolphins coach, and arguably the greatest NFL coach of all time. By the time he retired in 1995, Shula possessed a 274-147-2 record for the franchise. In total, Shula had a career total of 347-173-6 for the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins combined, the most for any NFL coach in history. Shula is still only one of the two coaches with 300+ victories, and the head coach for the both of Dolphins' Super Bowl-winning seasons in 1972-73 and 1973-74. But the standout fact that makes this legend the undisputed Dolphins and probably the NFL GOAT is that Shula is still the only coach in NFL history to complete a clean sweep in regular and postseason combined, even 5o years later. A feat that he achieved with the 1972-73 Miami Dolphins, and with a perfect 17-0-0 in the season.

The Dolphins have some big-name celebrities in their high-profile fanbase, including actor Johnny Depp, singer Fergie, rapper Pitbull, actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson, and billionaire Warren Buffett. But the award of the most hardcore Dolphins fan probably goes to Roger Avila, also known as the Dolfan Maniac. Avila, 60, has been a regular attendee at the team's games since 1994 and got to see legendary Don Shula in action in his last year as a professional. He was one of the three finalists of the Ford Hall of Fans contest in 2019 and was presented with the chance to see the Super Bowl LIII live from Mercedes-Benz Stadium despite the Dolphins not making it to the game. Avila became the eventual winner of the contest and got his name inducted into the Ford Hall of Fans.

Four interesting facts about the Miami Dolphins

1. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are often regarded as the greatest NFL side ever assembled. Coached by the legendary Don Shula, they still remain the only team in history to finish a season with a 100% win record at 17-0-0, 50 years later.


2. The 2007 Miami Dolphins were the reincarnation of the '72s team but from a parallel universe. They went 0-13 in the season, then managed to win one game, followed by two more defeats. Their 1-15 record from 2007 is the joint second-worst outing of any team in NFL history, with 10 other teams also reaching the unfortunate feat throughout their history.


3. The Dolphins became the first team in over 50 years to score 70 or more points in a regular season game when they tore apart the Denver Broncos 70-20 in the NFL 2023 Week 3 game. It is the second-highest regular-season score by any NFL team in history. 72 is the regular season record, set by the Washington Commanders in 1966, and 73 is the all-time record, set by the Bears back in 1940. The Dolphins could have broken the record with more than 8 minutes to play, but head coach Mike McDaniel decided not to kick a field goal which would have taken them to 73.


4. The franchise's 2015 Aqua throwback and 2019 White throwback are considered to be the greatest throwback uniforms in NFL history, which reminisced their iconic 1972-73 season. The vibrant Aqua top with Aqua-striped white tights is a feast for the eyes and reflects the humid subtropical climate of the state of Florida.