Report cards on the state of all NFL franchises have been released. While some might have thought the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks or the AFC champion New England Patriots would be No. 1, that didn’t work out.
Instead, a surprise team finds itself at the top of the NFL Players Association’s 2026 report cards. These make up an annual survey that grades franchises in several categories.
Dolphins Earn Top Spot in NFL Report Cards for 2026
Kalyn Kahler, senior NFL writer for ESPN, posted the entire list of teams ranked from top to bottom on the NFL report cards. And who’s No. 1? None other than the Miami Dolphins, who didn’t have a smooth season in 2025. It ended with Mike McDaniel being fired as head coach and replaced by Jeff Hafley.
Kahler shared the placement of NFL teams on the NFLPA report cards. The Dolphins were No. 1, followed by the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Commanders.
NFLPA report cards: here’s every grade for every category for every teamhttps://t.co/sfsHMHLxAC
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) February 26, 2026
The Seahawks finished fourth, followed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in fifth, Las Vegas Raiders in sixth, Houston Texans in seventh, Atlanta Falcons in eighth, Detroit Lions in ninth, and the Denver Broncos rounding out the top 10.
Meanwhile, the bottom five teams among the 32 NFL franchises, per the NFLPA report cards, were the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Full team rankings overall:
MIA 1
MIN 2
WAS 3
SEA 4
JAX 5
LV 6
HOU 7
ATL 8
DET 9
DEN 10
NO 11
BAL 12
CHI13
SF 14
LAC 15
BUF 16
IND 17
NYJ 18
LAR 19
PHI 20
GB 21
DAL 22
CAR 23
TEN 24
NYG 25
NE 26
KC 27
CIN 28
TB 29
CLE 30
AZ 31
PIT 32 https://t.co/d4Ia6jfIW4— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) February 26, 2026
The Dolphins received A+ marks for their weight room and strength coaches. Miami earned A or A- marks for home game food, food/dining area, nutritionist/dietitian, locker room, training room, training staff, position coaches, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, team travel, general manager, and team ownership.
As for the Steelers, they received F or F- grades for treatment of families, home game field, locker room, and team travel. Team ownership received a D-. The training room and defensive coordinator picked up C grades, while the general manager was a C+. The only areas where the Steelers earned A or A- grades were head coach and special teams coordinator.
The Steelers also saw longtime head coach Mike Tomlin leave the franchise. Mike McCarthy, who most recently coached the Dallas Cowboys, took over for Tomlin.
