2020 Miami Dolphins season
The 2020 season was the Miami Dolphins' 51st in the National Football League, their 55th overall and their second under head coach Brian Flores.
This was the first season since the 2016 season that the Dolphins finished with a winning record.
Despite being 2nd in their division, and having double digit wins, the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs due to Indianapolis beating the Jaguars in the last week of the season. This was the fourth time in franchise history that the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs with ten wins. Additionally, the Dolphins were the only team to finish the season with a winning record but fail to qualify for the playoffs.
The Dolphins ranked 6th in defense this season.
Season summary
The Dolphins dedicated their 2020 season in memory of legendary Dolphins' head coach Don Shula, who died on May 4, 2020, at the age of 90, at his Indian Creek, Florida home. At both home and away games, the Dolphins wore patches bearing Shula's surname and the number 347, the number of Shula's all-time number of wins in his 32 years as an NFL head coach. Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, served as Dolphins' head coach from 1970 to 1995 and had led the franchise to five Super Bowl appearances, winning back-to-back championships in 1972 and 1973. Famously, in 1972, Shula led the Dolphins to their first Super Bowl title, as well as the only perfect season by a team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.The Dolphins improved on their 5–11 record from the previous season, following a Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. After beginning the season 1–3, the Dolphins established themselves as playoff contenders by winning five straight games and starting with a 6–3 record for the first time since 2001. They also started 8–4 for the first time since 2003. The team clinched their first winning season since 2016 after a Week 15 win over the Patriots, which eliminated the Pats from the playoffs for the first time since 2008. On December 26, the Dolphins clinched their first 10-win season since 2016 with a 26–25 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
A significant factor in Miami's dramatic improvement over their 2019 season of 5–11 was the story of their defense. In 2019, the Dolphins allowed more points than any other team in the NFL. In 2020, only five teams allowed fewer points-per-game than the Dolphins.
However, despite the improvements, the Dolphins were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year following a blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills and the Indianapolis Colts' victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17, becoming the first team to miss the playoffs with 10+ wins since the 2015 Jets, which, coincidentally, were also led by Ryan Fitzpatrick. Despite their elimination from the playoffs, 5th-year cornerback Xavien Howard joined Antonio Cromartie as the only players since the 1970 merger to record at least 10 interceptions in a season, and was the most by a Dolphins player since Dick Westmoreland in 1967. The Dolphins also clinched the rights for the 3rd overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, which is one of the two first-round picks they received from trading Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills to the Houston Texans a season prior. The Dolphins had also finished the 2020 season by scoring a total of 404 points, which is their third highest-scoring total in a season in franchise history.
This season was also highlighted by the emergence of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the 5th pick in the 2020 draft, who was named the Dolphins' starter in Week 8, after the team began 3–3 under the leadership of Ryan Fitzpatrick. As the Dolphins' starting quarterback, he went 6–3 and also became the fifth rookie quarterback since the 1970 merger to win his first three starts.
Signings
The Dolphins signed former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones, former Philadelphia Eagles running back Jordan Howard, and former New England Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy. The Dolphins also picked up San Francisco 49ers' RB Matt Breida in a trade for a fifth-round draft pick which later became Colton McKivitz.Free agent signings
| Position | Player | Age | 2019 Team | Contract |
| RB | Jordan Howard | 25 | Philadelphia Eagles | 2 years, $9.75 million |
| CB | Byron Jones | 27 | Dallas Cowboys | 5 years, $82 million |
| OLB | Kyle Van Noy | 29 | New England Patriots | 4 years, $51 million |
| C | Ted Karras | 27 | New England Patriots | 1 year, $4 million |
| G | Ereck Flowers | 26 | Washington Redskins | 3 years, $30 million |
| ILB | Elandon Roberts | 26 | New England Patriots | 1 year, $2 million |
| SS | Clayton Fejedelem | 26 | Cincinnati Bengals | 3 years, $8.55 million |
| DE | Emmanuel Ogbah | 25 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2 years, $15 million |
| OLB | Shaq Lawson | 25 | Buffalo Bills | 3 years, $30 million |
| ILB | Kamu Grugier-Hill | 26 | Philadelphia Eagles | 1 year, $3 million |
| FS | Kavon Frazier | 25 | Dallas Cowboys | 1 year, $1 million |
Draft
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Tua Tagovailoa | QB | Alabama | |
| 1 | 18 | Austin Jackson | OT | USC | from Pittsburgh |
| 1 | 30 | Noah Igbinoghene | CB | Auburn | from Green Bay |
| 2 | 39 | Robert Hunt | OT | Louisiana | |
| 2 | 56 | Raekwon Davis | NT | Alabama | from New Orleans |
| 3 | 70 | Brandon Jones | FS | Texas | |
| 4 | 111 | Solomon Kindley | G | Georgia | from Houston |
| 5 | 154 | Jason Strowbridge | DE | North Carolina | from Jacksonville via Pittsburgh |
| 5 | 164 | Curtis Weaver | OLB | Boise State | from Baltimore via Los Angeles Rams |
| 6 | 185 | Blake Ferguson | LS | LSU | |
| 7 | 246 | Malcolm Perry | WR | Navy | from Kansas City |
| 7 | - | - | - | - | - |
Draft trades
- The Dolphins traded their second-round and fourth-round selections in the 2019 NFL draft to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for their second-round and sixth-round selections in 2019, as well as their second-round selection in 2020.
- The Dolphins traded safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, a fourth-round selection, and a seventh-round selection in the 2021 NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a first-round and fifth-round selection in 2020 as well as a sixth-round selection in 2021.
- The Dolphins traded offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills, a 2020 fourth-round selection, and a 2021 sixth-round selection to the Houston Texans in exchange for their 2020 first-round selection, as well as their first-round and second-round selections in the 2021 NFL draft, offensive tackle Julién Davenport, and cornerback Johnson Bademosi.
- The Dolphins traded a 2019 second-round selection, as well as their 2020 fifth-selection to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for quarterback Josh Rosen. They regained this selection after trading running back Kenyan Drake to Arizona.
- The Dolphins traded a seventh-round selection in the 2022 NFL draft to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for cornerback Aqib Talib and a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft.
- The Dolphins traded a sixth-round selection to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a conditional seventh-round selection and center Evan Boehm.
- The Dolphins traded a seventh-round selection to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for guard Danny Isidora.
- The Dolphins traded safety Jordan Lucas to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a seventh-round selection.
- The Dolphins traded a seventh-round selection to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round selection.
Staff
Final roster
Preseason
The Dolphins' preseason schedule was announced on May 7, but was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.| Week | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| 1 | at Atlanta Falcons | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | Hard Rock Stadium | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 3 | Detroit Lions | Hard Rock Stadium | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | |
| 4 | at New Orleans Saints | Mercedes-Benz Superdome | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
Regular season
Schedule
The Dolphins' 2020 schedule was announced on May 7.Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.