The Dolphins have four jerseys on the field in 2026, and they cover the whole range: aqua, white (which Miami wears at home as often as on the road), the white throwback with the leaping dolphin, and the near-black Dark Water Rivalries set. Miami has the best palette in the NFL, aqua and orange, and only one of these jerseys uses it the way it deserves. We put the Dolphins twenty-fifth in our best NFL uniforms of 2026 at a B-, and the color is the only thing that kept the grade in the B range.
Here are all four Miami Dolphins jerseys for 2026, ranked worst to first and graded, with the helmet and pants each one wears. For the week-by-week jersey schedule 2026, the Dolphins 2026 uniform schedule has every game.
4. Dark Water Rivalries
Dark Water is Miami's entry in the NFL x Nike Rivalries program, from the 2025 AFC East wave: a near-black jersey with aqua numbers and an orange MIAMI wordmark, worn under a dark helmet with a thin aqua and orange center stripe, a 305 bumper and a sunburst dolphin. It has one date in 2026: the final home game, against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, January 3 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS, with Buffalo in white.
The detail work is clean. The premise is the problem. Miami's palette is aqua, orange and white, with no black anywhere in it, and Dark Water takes the best colors in the league and shrinks them to trim on a dark body. Aqua numbers on black is a look Jacksonville wore for years and walked away from, and a South Florida team does not get better by looking like it plays at night in a warehouse.
It grades a C+, the same mark it holds in our Rivalries uniforms ranking: clean execution, wrong premise for Miami. Our full take is in why Dark Water is a miss.
3. White
The white jersey does most of the work in 2026, home and away. Miami opened the season in it at Las Vegas over aqua pants: white helmet, white jersey, aqua pants, a 27-13 loss. It projects to twelve games: seven on the road (the Raiders, 49ers, Vikings, Colts, Broncos and Packers, and the Week 18 trip to New England) and five at Hard Rock Stadium: the Chiefs in Week 3, the Bengals in Week 5, the Patriots in Week 8, the Lions in Week 9 and the Jets in Week 12. The Patriots game is confirmed by the team as White on White, and the uniform schedule Miami distributes to credentialed photographers has white against Detroit in Week 9. The rest follow how Miami has dressed this season and are our projection. More on why: Why Do the Dolphins Wear White at Home?.
All white is the best way to wear this jersey, because every bit of aqua on the field belongs to Miami, and against the Raiders' silver and black it made for a clean picture. The jersey itself is where the set shows its age. The aqua and orange live only in the numbers and the trim, the modern dolphin logo is colder than the original, and next to the throwback it looks like a draft of the same idea.
It grades a C+. Readable and correct, and a long way from what this palette can do.
2. Aqua
The aqua home jersey has white numbers outlined in orange, and in 2026 it is the rarest of Miami's regular looks: three games. The Dolphins wore it at the Jets in Week 7 (aqua jersey, white pants, against the Jets' all-white Classic set), and it projects to the Week 11 trip to Buffalo and one home game, the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16. Aqua at home only once is our projection, not a team announcement, but it is how the season has gone so far.
Aqua is the point. Nobody else in the NFL owns this color, and on a bright South Florida afternoon it is the most distinctive base jersey in the league. The orange outline gives the numbers a second signal that reads from the upper deck. What holds it back is everything around the color. The striping and the modern logo feel dated, and the set looks like a team that has a great palette and is not quite sure what to do with it.
It grades a B. The color earns most of that grade on its own.
1. Throwback
The throwback is a white jersey with aqua numbers outlined in orange and aqua and orange sleeve stripes, worn under a white helmet with the leaping dolphin logo, the look of the perfect-season teams and the Dan Marino years. Miami has confirmed it for one game: at home against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, December 13 in Week 14, billed as honoring every era of Dolphins football. With Miami in white at home, Chicago wears navy.
This is the best uniform the franchise has ever had, and it is not close. The leaping dolphin is warmer and more specific than the modern mark, the sleeve stripes do real work, and the aqua and orange finally sit next to each other where you can see them. It reads as a beach team rather than a generic NFL club. Every year it comes out, the same question follows: why is this not the full-time look?
It grades an A, the top mark in the closet. This is the direction Miami should be running toward, and one game a year is not enough.
Every Miami Dolphins Jersey in 2026, at a Glance
1. Throwback · A · Week 14 vs. Bears
2. Aqua · B · three games, one at home
3. White · C+ · twelve games, five at home
4. Dark Water Rivalries · C+ · Week 17 vs. Bills
For the week-by-week plan, the Miami Dolphins 2026 uniform schedule marks which games the team has confirmed, and the Dolphins uniform calendar lays all 18 weeks out at a glance. Once a game is played, our NFL uniform tracker logs what Miami actually wore and grades the matchup.
The Bottom Line on the Dolphins Jersey Rankings
The Dolphins jerseys rank by how much aqua and orange they let you see. The throwback puts both front and center and grades an A. Aqua is a B carried by the color, White is a C+ that shows its age, and Dark Water is a C+, well made but hiding the best palette in football under black.
Both special dates land in the final month, the throwback on December 13 and Dark Water on January 3. Give Miami the throwback twice and the blackout never, and this becomes one of the better-dressed teams in the AFC.
Frequently Asked Questions
What jerseys do the Dolphins have in 2026?
Four: aqua, white, the white throwback with the leaping dolphin helmet, and the Dark Water Rivalries set.
What is the best Dolphins jersey?
We rank the throwback first and grade it an A. Aqua and orange on white, under the leaping dolphin, is the best uniform the franchise has ever worn.
What jersey are the Dolphins wearing this week?
Week 2 is at the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, September 20 at 4:25 p.m. ET. Miami is projected in white on the road, and the white-over-aqua look it wore in Las Vegas is our read. San Francisco is projected in its scarlet home jersey with the gold helmet and gold pants. Check the NFL uniform tracker after kickoff.
Do the Dolphins have a new jersey in 2026?
No. All four jerseys are returning. Dark Water debuted with the 2025 AFC East Rivalries wave and is in the second of its three seasons in the rotation.
When do the Dolphins wear the throwback in 2026?
Once, at home against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, December 13 in Week 14. It is the white jersey with aqua and orange trim and the leaping dolphin on the helmet.
When do the Dolphins wear the Dark Water uniform in 2026?
Once, in the final home game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, January 3 at 1:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Rivalries uniforms are worn at home against a division rival.
