Dolphins Kick Off Offseason Program
Miami Dolphins players reported back for work at the Baptist Health Training Complex on Monday as the 2023 offseason program officially kicked off.
The Dolphins were among the more than two-dozen teams going back to work Monday, those with returning head coaches as is the case with Mike McDaniel.
Other teams beginning their offseason program Monday were the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders.
Teams with new coaches — Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts — were allowed to kick off the offseason program two weeks early.
The Philadelphia Eagles are taking a different approach, starting their offseason program next Monday.
For the Dolphins, Monday marked the start of Phase One of the offseason program, which will last for two weeks and consist of meetings, strength and conditioning, and rehabilitation but no field work.
As a reminder, the entire offseason workout program is voluntary, except for the mandatory minicamp, which the Dolphins have scheduled for June 6-8.
Some players do have extra incentive to attend in the form of workout bonuses, and per spotrac.com the list of Dolphins players with such bonuses includes Xavien Howard ($100,000), Tyreek Hill ($100,000), linebacker Bradley Chubb ($100,000), running back Raheem Mostert ($100,000), running back Jeff Wilson Jr. ($100,000), defensive back Keion Crossen ($50,000), linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel ($50,000), linebacker Jerome Baker ($25,000) and defensive lineman Zach Sieler ($25,000).
Phase Two will last three weeks and will feature individual and group drills on the field but no offense vs. defense work.
Phase Three, which includes OTAs and the mandatory minicamp, will start May 22.
THE DOLPHINS' UNUSUAL OFFSEASON SCHEDULE
The NFL unveiled offseason program schedules for every team in late March, and what stood out for the Dolphins was the low number of OTAs.
Teams are allowed up to 10 OTAs (Offseason Training Activities) in the spring, but the Dolphins to use only six of them, May 22-23, May 25, May 30-31, June 2.
The six OTAs are tied for the fewest around the NFL with the Eagles, Browns and Bengals, with the latter also not having a mandatory minicamp scheduled for this spring.
The Dolphins also will be one of nine teams wrapping up their offseason program June 8, with the others ending it the following week.
Also remember that because they don't have a first-year coach, the Dolphins also will not have a voluntary veteran minicamp this year.
