The Dolphins own surprising bragging rights over the rest of the NFL this offseason in one major resource — and it should help reshape Miami’s future
It’s time to party like it’s 2020.
The Miami Dolphins are a franchise that lost their way in their most recent build. Amid the promise of adding established talent and the hope of a major breakthrough and a sudden turnaround, the Dolphins fell away from the lifeblood of every NFL roster — they stopped making draft picks and used them for expensive talent on mature contracts. Between the 2022 and 2023 NFL Drafts combined, Miami made just eight total selections. Two of them came in the top-100 picks of those two classes combined.
Instead, they were spent on players like WR Tyreek Hill and EDGE Bradley Chubb. Or, alternatively, they were stripped away for tampering and tomfoolery off the football field. It’s an often overlooked subplot to Miami’s draft infrastructure crumbling, but it played a major role in Miami’s young talent pipeline drying up.
The tide has started to turn. Miami’s draft classes have normalized in 2024 and 2025. But in 2026, you may be surprised to find out that the Dolphins currently lay claim to some bragging rights with the NFL Draft that no other team can beat.
Miami Dolphins’ 2026 draft currently scheduled for more top-100 picks than any other team
The Miami Dolphins currently own five draft selections in the top-100 scheduled selections of 2026. They may not possess the raw firepower of the teams that hold multiple first-round draft choices, such as the Browns, Rams, Cowboys, and Jets — but the Dolphins’ current volume in the top-100 is unmatched. The Pittsburgh Steelers could ultimately have something to say about that, as they’re in possession of four top-100 picks and are projected to receive a compensatory third-round draft choice for the loss of OT Dan Moore in free agency.
It’s a far cry from 2022, when the Dolphins laughably made their first draft choice at 102nd overall in the queue. That pick, LB Channing Tindall, has played 21 career defensive snaps in nearly four seasons — and none since 2023.
2026 NFL Draft leaders in scheduled picks in first three rounds
- Miami Dolphins: 5
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 4*
- New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars: 4
- Minnesota Vikings: 3**
* Steelers projected to receive a compensatory third-round pick for Dan Moore, which would give them five top-100 picks
** Vikings projected to receive a compensatory third-round pick for Sam Darnold, which would give them four top-100 picks
Coming up so empty in the NFL’s most important talent pipeline helps plenty in the search for answers on how Miami’s once impressive roster in 2023 withered on the vine and has seen the depth of the team tested in recent years. It’s an inexcusable course of action for a team to undertake, and the team rightfully chose to swing and pivot from former general manager Chris Grier this year as a result despite the efforts to bring the scales back to even in 2024 and 2025.
Someone else will decide what to do with Miami’s draft picks in 2026. But for the first time in a long time, Miami can boast some unmatched draft capital in the first two days of a draft. And that, in and of itself, is a win in the bid for a longer competitive runway for their next team lifecycle.
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