The NFL may have just shown the Miami Dolphins their future—a fate they’d much rather avoid
The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants had a scrap-filled joint practice. Are they next to get a slap on the wrist from the league?
The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will play a preseason contest on Saturday afternoon. It will wrap up their shared preparations for the 2026 season.
But after Saturday’s preseason contest wraps, the Dolphins and Giants will have one last thing in common. Their shared hope in avoiding a letter from the league office. Miami and New York’s Thursday practice was…ahem…spirited and full of dust ups as tempers flared. And, as the NFL just established, that can have some hefty financial ramifications. Hopefully it isn’t a peek into the future for the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants.
Will the Miami Dolphins be the next team fined for joint practice fights after Cowboys/Saints hit with $500,000 fines each?
The Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints were each hit with a $500,000 fine as a result of an ugly practice fight from last week. The effort has been made (and communicated to teams) to cut down on this type of behavior during the joint practice sessions. Easier said than done, as we’ve seen. Given the dog days of summer and the build up frustrations of training camps across the league, these joint team encounters still feel like powder kegs. Many times, that’s exactly what they are.
Especially a second joint practice, when camp is another week older and the players are another week closer to the season.
Coaches, understandably love the joint practice settings. They get quality work against a different opponent than their own team. And they get to do it in a more controllable environment than a game, making it (hopefully) safer. That’s before you get to a fully customizable script, too. You can snap your fingers and get red zone work. Or third down reps. But the cost is the risk of a fight. Now, as we’ve seen, the cost of an actual fight could be a hefty, HEFTY fine. The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants will likely spend the next few days sweating it out and hoping they avoid the same fate that met the Cowboys and Saints.
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