The Miami Dolphins schedule for the 2026 NFL season will be revealed at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 14, ending weeks of speculation around a team entering a new era under coach Jeff Hafley and quarterback Malik Willis. Miami is coming off a 7-10 season in 2025, and the first look at the path ahead will show how steep the climb could be.

The league’s 2026 slate will span 272 games over 18 weeks, and the Dolphins will play eight home games and nine on the road. South Florida will host the Patriots, Chargers, Bengals, Bears and Chiefs, giving Miami a home list with several of the AFC and NFC names that usually draw attention far beyond the division.

For Dolphins fans, Thursday night matters because the schedule will frame the season before training camp begins. The team is in a rebuild after the 2025 finish, and the calendar will tell the story of when the pressure starts to build and where the hardest stretches may land.

That pressure has only grown because the leaks are already swirling. Schedule-leak accounts on social media have suggested Miami could play at the Vikings in Week 4 and at the Bills in Week 11, while Ian Berger has floated a Week 1 trip to the Raiders, a Week 2 game at the 49ers, a Week 5 home date with the Bengals and a Week 15 visit to the Packers. Another alleged leak account has offered a different opening, with the Dolphins at the Raiders in Week 1, showing how little can be trusted until the league makes it official.

The uncertainty is not limited to Miami. NFL reporter Jordan Schultz has said the Jets will open the 2026 season at the Titans, while a report from 880 New York sports radio said New York would open at the Dolphins in Week 1. NFL Nerd and Ozzy NFL also said Miami will play at the Jets in Week 7, adding another layer to a schedule picture that keeps changing by the hour.

One detail already looks settled: there will be no international games for Miami. That keeps the focus on the familiar grind of the U.S. schedule, with road trips, division games and the kind of matchups that will quickly show whether Hafley and Willis can turn a 7-10 team into something more competitive. When the full Miami Dolphins schedule 2026 is unveiled Thursday night, the real story will not just be who they play. It will be whether the route back to relevance looks manageable or immediately unforgiving.