The Miami Dolphins start their offseason training program today. What does that mean? What is allowed? And when is minicamp?
The Miami Dolphins’ 2025 offseason training program begins today, bringing the players back into the facility for the first time as they begin working toward the regular season. The highlights for this year’s program will be the team’s organized team activities and minicamp, scheduled for late May through mid-June.
What is the offseason training program? What are the rules for each phase? Who has to attend? Here are all the rules for the 2025 program:
Offseason training program attendance requirements
The majority of the training program is completely voluntary for the players. Players cannot be penalized for skipping a day or even the entire workout plan. Most players choose to attend, and the coaches often expect them to be there, but things happen, and players will miss time during the program.
The mandatory veteran minicamp is the one exception to the offseason program’s voluntary status. During those three days, players will be fined if they do not attend the on-field practices.
Offseason training program length
The offseason program is nine weeks, designed to work on strength and conditioning, classroom/playbook work, rehabilitation, and some on-field drills. The program is broken into three phases, allowing for more on-field work during the later phases.
Live contact is not permitted during any phase of the program.
Offseason training program – Phase 1
Phase one is two weeks long and includes team and position meetings, strength and conditioning work, and any needed injury rehabilitation. Strength and conditioning coaches are the only coaches allowed on the field during any workouts, with a maximum of 90 minutes on the field and only “dead ball” drills allowed.
According to the NFL Players Association website, dead-ball drills include quarterbacks throwing to wide receivers without any coverage, kickers and punters kicking with no snappers or players fielding the kicks, and long snappers snapping into a net. Defensive players are prohibited from catching a ball, no matter who is throwing it.
Phase one limits teams to four hours with the players per day.
For the Dolphins in 2025, phase one runs from April 21 through May 4.
Offseason training program – Phase 2
Phase two is the next three weeks, and players can start getting onto the practice field with coaches. Workouts are limited to individual or group instruction and drills, “perfect play” drills, and walk-throughs with the offense and defense lining up against themselves (no offense versus defense work). There is also no one-on-one work and players cannot wear helmets.
Phase two is also limited to four hours per day.
Miam’s phase two for 2025 runs from May 5 to May 25.
Offseason training program – Phase 3
The final four weeks of the training program include up to 10 days of organized team activities (OTAs) spread over three weeks. No live contact is allowed during this phase, but teams can begin to work offense versus defense in 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 team drills. Phase three also includes the mandatory minicamp.
Restrictions on the schedule include teams being allowed three OTA days during each of the first two weeks, with a one-time exception for a fourth day in one of the weeks, but phase two rules apply to that day.
Helmets are permitted during phase three, as are knee and elbow pads.
Phase three allows for up to six hours per day of work.
Miami’s phase three runs from May 26 to June 22.
Minicamp Rules
Minicamp is part of phase three, with the same on-field rules applying. Teams may have the players in the facilities for up to 10 hours per day over the three days of on-field minicamp work, but will not exceed 24 total hours for the camp.
Minicamp is technically a week, beginning on Monday and running through Friday. Monday is limited to physicals with no practices allowed. Tuesday through Thursday, teams are allowed to hold two practices each day for a total of 3.5 hours on the field, with the second practice limited to a walk-through. Friday is a mandatory off day for each team.
Dolphins 2025 OTA and Minicamp schedule
During head coach Mike McDaniel’s tenure, the Dolphins have typically only used six of their allotted ten OTA days, and that continues with this year’s schedule.
Miami OTAs:
- May 27
- May 29-30
- June 2-3
- June 5
Minicamp
- June 10-12
Rookie Training Program
Every team may also conduct a seven-week rookie training program. The program must take place during weekdays except for the team’s rookie minicamp, which will occur on Friday through Monday, either the weekend after the NFL Draft or the weekend following that. The rookie training program begins on May 12 for all teams.
The Dolphins’ rookie minicamp schedule has not been published.
Dolphins training camp schedule
The NFL preseason will open with the annual Hall of Fame Game on July 3, though the teams have not been announced. The rest of the teams will open their preseason schedules around August 7-10. Exact training camp schedules have not been released, but teams will likely open camp around July 17 (three weeks before the preseason games), with rookies eligible to report a week earlier.
In 2023, the Dolphins held nine practices during training camp that were open to the public. Last year, that number increased to 13, but the Dolphins had two home preseason games compared to one in 2023. The schedule for 2025 may be closer to the nine open practices mark. The Dolphins have looked to maximize joint workouts with teams over the past few seasons and could lose some “home” practices as they travel early to a preseason opponent’s facilities for those combined workouts.
Miami will also likely limit one of their public practices to just season-ticket members. They may also schedule a scrimmage at Hard Rock Stadium, but that workout was cancelled last year.
The public practice schedule will likely be released around June 20.