The 2016 season was the Miami Dolphins' 47th in the National Football League (NFL), their 51st overall, their first under general manager Chris Grier and their first under head coach Adam Gase. The season saw the Dolphins trying to improve upon their 6–10 record from 2015. After a lackluster 1–4 start, the Dolphins claimed six straight wins, ultimately finishing the season on a 9–2 run. With their Week 15 win over the New York Jets, the Dolphins clinched a winning record for the first time since 2008, and clinched a playoff berth the following week after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos, ending their 8-year playoff drought. This made Gase the Dolphins' first rookie coach since Tony Sparano to end a year-long playoff drought and also lead them to a winning record of at least 10 wins. They were also the first AFC East team, other than the New England Patriots, to qualify for the postseason since the 2010 New York Jets. However, they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round, ending their season and not winning a playoff game for the 16th straight year.
Offseason
Organizational changes On January 2, 2016, two-year general manager Dennis Hickey was fired. On January 4, the Dolphins promoted director of college scouting Chris Grier to replace Hickey as the new general manager. Grier has been with the Dolphins for the past sixteen seasons, nine as the director of scouting.
The Dolphins front office, which is made up of owner Stephen Ross, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, CEO Tom Garfinkel, vice chairman Matt Higgins and Grier, developed a committee to find a permanent replacement for former head coach Joe Philbin, who was fired and replaced by tight ends coach Dan Campbell on October 5, 2015.
The Dolphins conducted interviews with seven candidates. The candidates included former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, former Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan, former Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone, Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn, Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin and interim head coach Campbell. The Dolphins requested interviews with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, as well as Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson.
Owner Ross expressed interest in New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton; however, on January 6, Payton announced he would remain in New Orleans for another season.
On January 9, Gase was hired as the twelfth head coach in Dolphins history. He was the only candidate to receive a second interview. On January 12, Gase hired Bengals' defensive back coach Vance Joseph as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Matt Burke, who worked with Joseph in Cincinnati, in the same position. Gase also hired Washington Redskins' offensive line assistant Shane Day as tight ends coach, San Francisco 49ers' offensive line coach Chris Foerster in the same position and former NFL wide receiver Shawn Jefferson as the wide receivers coach. Assistant general manager Eric Stokes was promoted to senior personnel executive.
On August 16, 2016, the Dolphins announced the naming rights to their home stadium had been sold to Hard Rock International. The stadium, which was known as Sun Life Stadium in 2015 and was being called "New Miami Stadium" during the $500 million renovations completed during the summer of 2016, will be known as "Hard Rock Stadium."
Roster changes The Dolphins entered free agency with 11 unrestricted free agents. Position Player Free agencytag Date signed 2016 team QB Matt Moore UFA March 15, 2016 Miami Dolphins RB Lamar Miller UFA March 9, 2016 Houston Texans C Jacques McClendon UFA March 11, 2016 Miami Dolphins G Shelley Smith UFA August 13, 2016 Chicago Bears WR Rishard Matthews UFA March 9, 2016 Tennessee Titans DE Derrick Shelby UFA March 9, 2016 Atlanta Falcons DE Olivier Vernon UFA March 9, 2016 New York Giants LB James-Michael Johnson UFA March 10, 2016 Miami Dolphins LB Spencer Paysinger UFA March 29, 2016 Miami Dolphins LB Kelvin Sheppard UFA April 10, 2016 New York Giants FS Louis Delmas UFA RFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive rights free agent LEGEND Light green background indicates a player has been re-signed by the Dolphins. Light red background indicates a player has departed the Dolphins.
Acquisitions The Dolphins first addition of 2016 was the signing of wide receiver/cornerback Tyler Davis on January 4, on a futures contract. Davis became the first German Football League player to be signed by an NFL team.
March 7, 2016 – The Dolphins acquire LB Kiko Alonso and CB Byron Maxwell from the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for swapping first round picks (8 and 13).
March 8, 2016 – The Dolphins sign DE Mario Williams on a 2-year, $16 million contract.
March 9, 2016 – The Dolphins sign S Isa Abdul-Quddus on a 3-year, $12.75 million contract.
May 13, 2016 – The Dolphins sign DE Jason Jones on a 1-year, $1.5 million contract.
Departures The Dolphins first departure of 2016 was the waiving of offensive tackle Jason Curtis Fox, who had one year remaining on his contract, on January 12.
The Dolphins also released cornerback Brent Grimes and wide receiver Greg Jennings on March 5, 2016 after an uneventful 2015 season.
On March 9, the Dolphins lost Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller, Derrick Shelby, Kelvin Sheppard, and Rishard Matthews to other teams during free agency.
Draft
2016 Miami Dolphins Draft Round Selection Player Position College 1 13 Laremy Tunsil OT Ole Miss 2 38Xavien Howard CB Baylor 3 73 Kenyan Drake RB Alabama 3 86 Leonte Carroo WR Rutgers 6 186 Jakeem Grant WR Texas Tech 6 204 Jordan Lucas CB/S Penn State 7 223 Brandon Doughty QB Western Kentucky 7 231 Thomas Duarte TE UCLA Notes The team traded its first-round selection to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a first-round selection, cornerback Byron Maxwell and linebacker Kiko Alonso. The Baltimore Ravens traded its second-round selection to Miami in exchange for Miami's second and fourth-round selections. Miami traded its fifth-round selection to the New England Patriots in exchange for New England's 2 sixth-round selections and a seventh-round selection. The Dolphins acquired an additional seventh-round selection in a trade that sent cornerback Will Davis to the Baltimore Ravens.
Staff
Final roster
Schedule
Preseason This was the first preseason since 1999 that the Dolphins did not play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 at New York Giants W 27–10 1–0 MetLife Stadium Recap 2 at Dallas Cowboys L 14–41 1–1 AT&T Stadium Recap 3 Atlanta Falcons W 17–6 2–1 Camping World Stadium Recap 4 Tennessee Titans L 10–21 2–2 Hard Rock Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 11 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–12 0–1 CenturyLink Field Recap 2 September 18 at New England Patriots L 24–31 0–2 Gillette Stadium Recap 3 September 25 Cleveland Browns W 30–24 1–2 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 4 at Cincinnati Bengals L 7–22 1–3 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 5 October 9 Tennessee Titans L 17–30 1–4 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 6 October 16 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–15 2–4 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 7 October 23 Buffalo Bills W 28–25 3–4 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 8Bye 9 November 6 New York Jets W 27–23 4–4 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 10 November 13 at San Diego Chargers W 31–24 5–4 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 11 November 20 at Los Angeles Rams W 14–10 6–4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 12 November 27 San Francisco 49ers W 31–24 7–4 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 13 December 4 at Baltimore Ravens L 6–38 7–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 14 December 11 Arizona Cardinals W 26–23 8–5 Hard Rock Stadium Recap 15 at New York Jets W 34–13 9–5 MetLife Stadium Recap 16 at Buffalo Bills W 34–31 10–5 New Era Field Recap 17 January 1 New England Patriots L 14–35 10–6 Hard Rock Stadium Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Postseason
Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Recap Wild Card January 8, 2017 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) L 12–30 0–1 Heinz Field Recap
Game summaries
Regular season
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks
The Dolphins opened their 2016 season at Seattle. This game would mark their first visit to Seattle since 2004. In the first quarter, the Dolphins would trail early as Steven Hauschka nailed a 39-yard field goal, giving Seattle a 3–0 lead. Miami would tie the game 3–3 on an Andrew Franks 41-yard field goal. But, the Seahawks would retake the lead on another Hauschka field goal, this time from 38 yards. After a scoreless 3rd quarter, Miami would finally take their first lead on a Ryan Tannehill 2 yard touchdown run, giving Miami a 10–6 lead with 4:08 left. However, Seattle would march down the field and take the lead for good, as Russell Wilson found Doug Baldwin from 2 yards out. With the loss, Miami started their season 0–1.
Week 2: at New England Patriots
After trailing 31–3 for most of the game, Miami made the game close, but the comeback was short, as the Patriots held on for the win. With the loss, Miami fell to 0–2 for the first time since 2011.
Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland kicker Cody Parkey missed three field goals in the game, including a potential game winner with no time left on the clock. After both teams failed on their opening drive of the overtime period, Jay Ajayi capped a three-play, 44-yard drive with an 11-yard run into the end zone to give Miami the win. With that, the Dolphins improved to 1–2.
Week 4: at Cincinnati Bengals
The Dolphins wore orange Color Rush uniforms for this game. The Bengals dominated this game from start to finish, forcing two Miami turnovers. With the loss, the Dolphins fell to 1–3.
Week 5: vs. Tennessee Titans
In the first of three games at home before their bye, the Dolphins gave up an early lead to the Tennessee Titans that they failed to overturn, as they fell to 1–4. Tannehill was sacked six times in the game.
Week 6: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Ben Roethlisberger was injured and taken out of the game briefly after throwing two interceptions and tearing his meniscus. The Steelers led 8–3 with less than 10 minutes played in the first quarter, but the Dolphins outscored the Steelers 27–7 for the remainder of the game. With the win, the Dolphins improved to 2–4, and started a six-game winning streak.
Week 7: vs. Buffalo Bills
The Dolphins trailed 17–6 going into the final minute of the third quarter, but three consecutive touchdowns by the Dolphins gave them a 28–25 win and they improved to 3–4. Running back Jay Ajayi became the first Dolphins running back to rush for over 200 yards in consecutive games since Ricky Williams accomplished the feat in 2002.
Week 9: vs. New York Jets
The Dolphins had the lead going into the fourth quarter, only for Jalin Marshall to put the Jets ahead with less than six minutes to go; however, Kenyan Drake returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to give the Dolphins the win, and they improved to 4–4. They also defeated the Jets at home for the first time since 2011.
Week 10: at San Diego Chargers
The Dolphins would intercept Philip Rivers four times in the second half. Towards the end of the game, Kiko Alonso returned an interception 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown. With the win, the Dolphins went to 5–4.
Week 11: at Los Angeles Rams