Ryan Fitzpatrick Says 0-17 Is 'Within Reach' for 2026 Dolphins After Week 1 Loss to Raiders

Former NFL quarterback and current Prime Video analyst Ryan Fitzpatrick knows what a bad Miami Dolphins team looks like, as he was under center of their 5-11 finish to the 2019 season.

So when Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald asked Fitzpatrick about his prediction that this year's Dolphins squad could go winless, the 43-year-old didn't change his stance.

"There's a lot going on that reminded me of that 2019 season there. We started 0-7 [in 2019]. We lost the first four games by an average of 34 points a game. A game! We were not even given the chance to succeed," Fitzpatrick told Jackson during a Zoom session. "So 0-17, I feel, is within reach, and part of it is because of who they're playing. They're playing the NFC North and AFC West, which I think is really important."

It was no secret entering the 2026 campaign that the Dolphins were on the verge of a rebuild year, but Sunday's season-opening 27-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders didn't inspire any confidence that Miami could be competitive at all.

Fitzpatrick pointed to the significant roster turnover this offseason and previous comments by first-year head coach Jeff Hafley as the reasons for his prediction.

"Part of it is self-inflicted with all the dead money. They've got over $180 million in dead cap. Tua [Tagovailoa], Tyreek [Hill], Jaylen Waddle, [Bradley] Chubb, [Jalen] Ramsey, Minkah [Fitzpatrick] — all those guys that are on the books but not on the roster; that's part of it," Fitzpatrick explained to Jackson. "Jeff Hafley's comments [to Stephen A. Smith, which he has since clarified] and reading between the tea leaves with him saying success isn't measured by wins and losses. That said a lot. The amount of guys they claimed off waivers [seven] after that first cut."

Fitzpatrick also noted that Miami has some tough opponents on the schedule, including the team's Week 2 road matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Even the AFC East rival New York Jets, who are also in the midst of a rebuild, showed signs of improvement that led the former signal-caller to believe that the Dolphins will be at the bottom of the NFL this year.

"Their other games are at San Fran, Indy and Cincy. The Jets look like they're going to be better. I just started doing the calculations and thought, 'Gosh, this is a real possibility,'" Fitzpatrick said. "But the people that can get in the way of a tank are the coaches and the players. And that's what happened in 2019. So I'm rooting for them to screw it up and get in the way of it. But I think 0-17 is [realistic]."