Where Do Dolphins Stand in Terms of Head Coach Job Appeal?

The Miami Dolphins are among eight NFL teams that currently don't have a head coach

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross reacts after the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Hard Rock Stadium in the 2024 season opener. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins became the eighth NFL team looking for a new head coach when they dismissed Mike McDaniel after four seasons on the job.

The Dolphins joined the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders in firing their head coach after the 2025 regular season, and the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans each made a coaching change during the season.

Not surprisingly, all eight teams looking for a new coach finished the 2025 season with a losing record, with Atlanta and Baltimore both coming close to a winning record at 8-9.

But not all losing teams are created equal and certainly not all of them have the same outlook for the immediate and maybe even long-term future.

In other words, there is a clear difference between the job openings in terms of appeal based on the current roster, the players under contract for next season, ownership, QB situation, overall organizational strength and many other factors.

And when multiple teams become interested in the same head coach candidate — I don't know, say, somebody like John Harbaugh, for example — this could become the determining factor.

So where do the Dolphins rank among the eight job openings?

RANKING THE APPEAL OF THE EIGHT HEAD COACH OPENINGS

1. BALTIMORE RAVENS

2025 record: 8-9

Last playoff appearance: 2024

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $12.2 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Lamar Jackson

Analysis: While the Ravens missed the playoffs and finished with a losing record, let’s not forget this was viewed as one of the most talented teams heading into the season. The organization is solid with a great infrastructure and having Jackson at quarterback is a big bonus.

2. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

2025 record: 3-14

Last playoff appearance: 2021

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $73.3 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Fernando Mendoza

Analysis: The Raiders have been an absolute mess recently and whoever takes over will become their sixth different head coach in six years. But the Raiders do have the first overall pick, a ton of cap space and Hall of Famer Tom Brady around to help out.

3. TENNESSEE TITANS

2025 record: 3-14

Last playoff appearance: 2021

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $84.4 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Cam Ward

Analysis: This is an organization that’s experienced little success over the past 17 years outside of Mike Vrabel’s run as head coach, so that’s a red flag. But it’s also difficult to overlook all that cap space and the presence of Ward, who absolutely looked like a franchise quarterback as a rookie in 2025 despite having poor numbers.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS

2025 record: 4-13

Last playoff appearance: 2022

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $-5.6 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Jaxson Dart

Analysis: The Giants stand near the bottom of the coach-less teams in terms of cap space and the presence of controversial GM Joe Schoen (who made dubious and well publicized decisions involving key players Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley not so long ago) don’t help the standing here, but this is a franchise with a good tradition and there is high-end talent on the roster. Dart is a bit of a wild card, though, because he’s undeniably talented but he might not last long in the NFL if he doesn’t become less adventurous.

5. CLEVELAND BROWNS

2025 record: 5-12

Last playoff appearance: 2023

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $-29 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Deshaun Watson

Analysis: What’s most appealing about this opportunity is what lies ahead in 2027 and beyond. The Browns have one more season where they’re basically tied to Watson because of his $80 million cap space with all his money guaranteed. But there’s an awful lot of talent on defense plus a bounty of draft picks, including two No. 1s, after the 2025 draft-day trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars. One down side is the organization itself, which hasn’t experienced a lot of success, in large part because of decisions like the one involving the Watson trade. For John Harbaugh specifically, one X-factor is the fact that he’s from Ohio and his family reportedly grew up Browns fans.

6. MIAMI DOLPHINS

2025 record: 7-10

Last playoff appearance: 2023

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $-34.1 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Quinn Ewers

Analysis: What’s to like about the organization is having an owner who’s willing to spend and tends to be patient with the people he hires (sometimes too patient) and the weather is tough to beat. But this is a roster with a lot of holes and few young stars and a totally unsettled QB situation made difficult by the 2025 regression of Tua Tagovailoa and a contract that’s only more surpassed in being an albatross for an organization by the Deshaun Watson deal.

7. ATLANTA FALCONS

2025 record: 8-9

Last playoff appearance: 2017

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $17.8 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Michael Penix Jr.

Analysis: The expected arrival of Matt Ryan in a senior executive role should make this job a bit more appealing, but this clearly has been a struggling franchise. There is some good young talent on the roster and the team actually was the most talented in the NFC South this season, but there’s a pretty big question mark at quarterback because Kirk Cousins (and his big contract) is on his way out and the jury is still out on Penix.

8. ARIZONA CARDINALS

2025 record: 3-14

Last playoff appearance: 2021

Projected 2026 effective cap space: $13.6 million

Projected 2026 starting QB: Kirk Cousins

Analysis: This is another organization with little history of success and the outlook isn’t great for 2026, either, with a shaky quarterback situation. We projected Cousins here because all signs point to the team moving on from Kyler Murray. Like the Dolphins, the weather is a plus, but ownership isn’t exactly considered top notch here.