What the Dolphins Win Meant for Draft Position

The Miami Dolphins' victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed a team fighting to the end, even if it means hurting its 2026 draft position.

But the good news in the aftermath of Miami's 20-17 victory is that we're talking only a few slots, and it's not as though the difference involves a top 5 pick.

The Dolphins found themselves holding the 12th position after the 1 p.m. Sunday games.

Miami joined Tampa Bay as the only teams currently holding a 7-9 record, though Tampa Bay has the benefit of playing in the mediocre NFC South and can still win the division by defeating the Carolina Panthers at home next Sunday.

The Atlanta Falcons could join the Dolphins and Bucs at 7-9 if they can defeat the L.A. Rams on Monday night in an interesting game in terms of 2026 draft meaning because the Rams own the Falcons' first-round pick. The Rams also no longer can win the NFC West title after the Seattle Seahawks' victory at Carolina and are locked into being either the fifth or sixth seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Dolphins are ahead of Tampa Bay in the current draft order on the basis of their easier strength of schedule (SOS) and the same would hold true with the Falcons, meaning an Atlanta victory Monday night would move Miami to 11th.

Looking ahead to Week 18, when the Dolphins will face the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in a game that could mean the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs for New England, the Dolphins still could move up all the way to eighth depending on other results — the exact same way things stood heading into the games Sunday.

For that to happen, the Dolphins would need to lose, have Atlanta defeat the Rams on Monday night, and have the New Orleans Saints defeat Atlanta, the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Cincinnati Bengals defeat the Cleveland Browns.

If Atlanta loses against the Rams on Monday night, then the best the Dolphins could do is the No. 9 overall pick.

If the Dolphins upset the Patriots at Gillette Stadium to give them a final 8-9 record, they likely would end up with the 14th or 15th pick in the first round depending on whether the Dallas Cowboys can defeat the New York Giants next Sunday (a Dallas win being helpful for Miami).