Dolphins at the Top of the NFLPA Report Cards

The Miami Dolphins haven't reached their goals on the field, but they're clearly doing a lot of things the right way when it comes to operating an NFL team.

Proof of that came Wednesday when the NFL Players Association released its annual organizational report cards on various aspects, such as ownership, head coach, treatment of families, and more.

The Dolphins not only came in first overall in the league in the grades, they blew away the competition.

The Dolphins got an A grade or better in all 11 categories, and were in the top three in the league in every single one except for head coach where Mike McDaniel came in eighth but still got an A.

"Club owner Stephen Ross is the highest-graded club owner in our survey, receiving a near perfect score," the NFLPA review said. "The club owner’s ranking reflects the strong performance in key areas that players care about, including the quality of their facilities, the comfort of players’ travel, and the quality and quantity of staff across multiple categories.

"The state-of-the-art facilities continue to impress, but more importantly, are complemented by the number of quality trainers, strength coaches and other support staff who help make the workplace experience one of the best across the league. "

THE DOLPHINS' GRADES IN EACH CATEGORY

The 11 categories were Treatment of Families, Food/Cafeteria, Nutritionist/Dietician, Locker Room, Training Room, Training Staff, Weight Room, Strength Coaches, Team Travel, Head Coach and Ownership.

The Dolphins ranked first in the NFL for Food/Cafeteria, Training Room, Training Staff, Weight Room, Team Travel, and Ownership, with the Weight Room and Ownership each earning an A+.

Miami got second place among all 32 teams in the categories of Nutritionist/Dietician, and Strength Coaches.

The Dolphins finished second overall in the player grades in 2023 when the survey featured eight categories — head coach, ownership and nutritionist/dietician were added this year.

The rest of the top five teams this year included Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Philadelphia Eagles and Jacksonville Jaguars.

The bottom three teams were the Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Commanders coming in dead last.

HOW THE SURVEY WAS DONE

As explained by the NFLPA, the player survey was done from Aug. 26 through Nov. 26. The survey, conducted by Artemis Strategy Group, reached out to every player on an NFL roster during the survey period, with a total of 1,706 players participating.

The survey included both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Grades were calculated based on player responses, with each category grade based primarily on scores from scaled rating questions as well as additional details about workplace conditions.

The team overviews comments reflect player respondent opinions about the state of each team's workplace. The NFLPA indicates that the survey results reflect only the opinions of those players who took part in the survey.

And, based on those opinions, the Dolphins represent the best team for which to play based on working conditions.