2021 NFL schedule leaks and rumors: Tracking Dolphins news on schedule release day

The 2021 NFL regular-season schedule will be released tonight in a made-for-TV event on NFL Network at 8pm ET. Of course, throughout the day, rumors and leaks will happen to give us a idea of what the Miami Dolphins’ 2021 schedule will look like. Some of those rumors will be just that, rumors that do not pan out, but some of them will be proven accurate and lock in the team’s slate of games.

This year, there are only three preseason games, while there are 17 regular-season contests. Teams’ regular-season schedules consist of their six intra-division games, four games against a division from within their conference, four games against a division from the other conference, two games against the two same conference teams who finish in the same respective position in their division, and now one game against a team that finished in the same respective position in their division from the other conference. That is a long way to say the Dolphins’ 2021 opponents are:

Home:

Buffalo Bills (AFC East)
New England Patriots (AFC East)
New York Jets (AFC East)
Houston Texans (AFC South)
Indianapolis Colts (AFC South)
Atlanta Falcons (NFC South)
Carolina Panthers (NFC South)
Baltimore Ravens (AFC North second-place team)
New York Giants (NFC East)

Away:

Buffalo Bills (AFC East)
New England Patriots (AFC East)
New York Jets (AFC East)
Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC South)
Tennessee Titans (AFC South)
New Orleans Saints (NFC South)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC South)
Las Vegas Raiders (AFC West second-place team)

We will keep up throughout the day with the latest rumors/reports to try to build Miami’s 2021 schedule. Unless indicated below, the dates listed are the Sunday for that week. Rumors are in italics and indicate unconfirmed reports or reports from one source and may or may not be right.

Here is what we know so far:

Week 1 (Sep. 12) - OFFICIAL - @ Patriots (4:25pm ET, CBS) - Reported via CBS on CBS This Morning (Tweeted by Adam Beasley) - Had been rumored by Yianni Kourakis earlier. The Dolphins also opened the season at the Patriots last year.

Week 2 (Sep. 19) - OFFICIAL - vs. Bills (Time TBD) - Buffalo Rumblings continues to kill it with confirmations.

Week 3 (Sep. 26)

Week 4 (Oct. 3)

Week 5 (Oct. 10)

Week 6 (Oct. 17) - OFFICIAL - @ Jags in London (9:30 AM ET, N/A) - Reported via the Miami Dolphins. The Jaguars are the only team to play more games in London than the Dolphins. Should be a fun crowd full of fans of both teams.

Week 7 (Oct. 24)

Week 8 (Oct. 31) - OFFICIAL -@ Bills - Buffalo Rumblings has confirmed the date. Previous rumor: Buffalo Rumblings has an unconfirmed report that the Dolphins could be visiting the Bills for Halloween.

Week 9 (Nov. 7)

Week 10 (Nov. 14)

Week 11 (Nov. 21) - OFFICIAL - @ Jets (1pm ET) - via Dov Kleiman

Week 12 (Nov. 28)

Week 13 (Dec. 5) - OFFICIAL - vs. Giants (1pm ET) - via USA Today

Week 14 (Dec. 12)

Week 15 (Dec. 18/19) - OFFICIAL - vs. Jets (Time TBD) - via Dov Kleiman (Date listed as either Saturday or Sunday)

Week 16 (Dec. 27) OFFICIAL - PRIME TIME MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL- vs Saints (8:15pm ET) - via NFL_DovKleiman (The Dolphins will face off vs the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The last time these two teams played on MNF, the Saints defeated the Dolphins 38-17 (9/30/13)—both teams were 3-0 heading into this matchup.

Week 17 (Jan. 2)

Week 18 (Jan. 8) - OFFICIAL - vs. Patriots (1pm ET) - via Evan Lazor

• Narrowing down the Giants game, it would appear to be in Week 5, 13, or 14. The rest of the Giants schedule appears to be known, via Big Blue View, with just those three dates still open.

Last update: 6:35 PM ET