Dolphins Repeat as NFLPA Survey Champions

The Miami Dolphins haven't reached their goals on the field, but they continue to do a lot of things the right way when it comes to operating an NFL team.

More proof of that came Wednesday when the NFL Players Association released its annual organizational report cards on various aspects, such as ownership, head coach, treatment of families, and more.

The Dolphins not only came in first overall in the league in the grades for a second consecutive year, they blew away the competition.

The Dolphins got an A grade or better in all 11 categories, and came in the top three in seven categories. Their lowest ranking in any category was head coach, but even there Mike McDaniel earned an A+.

"The Dolphins retained their crown as the top-ranked team in the 2025 Report Card," the NFLPA review said. "Stephen Ross is once again the highest-graded owner, and the team is ranked No. 1 in seven of the 11 evaluated categories. The quality of the facilities is matched by the quality of the people in the building, making for an extremely positive player experience. The team also renovated their gameday locker room at Hard Rock Stadium this summer. The stadium locker room is not an area evaluated in these surveys, but this is another example of just how committed the team is to providing an elite player experience.

"While the facilities and staff contribute to a highly positive player experience, there is still room for improvement. Players would like a better home game hotel, and more sideline passes for family members before games."

THE DOLPHINS' GRADES IN EACH CATEGORY

The 11 categories were Treatment of Families, Food/Cafeteria, Nutritionist/Dietician, Locker Room, Training Room, Training Staff, Weight Room, Strength Coaches, Team Travel, Head Coach and Ownership.

The Dolphins ranked first in the NFL for Food/Dining, Weight Room, Strength Coaches, Team Travel, Ownership, Training Room and Training Staff, with all of them gaining an A+ except for the last two, which earned an A.

Miami got second place among all 32 teams in the category of Nutritionist/Dietician.

The Dolphins finished second overall in the player grades in 2023 when the survey featured eight categories — head coach, ownership and nutritionist/dietician were added this year.

The rest of the top five teams this year included Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers.

The bottom three teams were the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals coming in dead last.

HOW THE SURVEY WAS DONE

According to the NFLPA, this is how the rankings were achieved:

"The NFLPA worked with research experts at Artemis Strategy Group to provide guidance on best practices for conducting this type of survey.

"The survey included both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Grades were calculated based on player responses, with each category grade based primarily on scores from scaled rating questions as well as additional details about workplace conditions.

The team overviews comments reflect player respondent opinions about the state of each team's workplace. The NFLPA indicates that the survey results reflect only the opinions of those players who took part in the survey."

The survey was administered from August 26 to November 20, 2024, and featured 1,695 players completing the survey.

The survey included both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Grades were calculated based on player responses, with each category grade based primarily on scores from scaled rating questions as well as additional details about workplace conditions.

And, based on those opinions, the Dolphins again represent the best team for which to play based on working conditions.