Dolphins’ Chris Grier addresses draft, decision to stick with Tua, Parker trade, more
The Dolphins have stripped their draft capital in 2022 for a good cause: Pro Bowl receiver Tyreek Hill.
But they have no interest in diminishing their 2023 draft capital, which includes two first-round picks (theirs and San Francisco’s), their second-rounder and two third-round picks (theirs and New England’s).
“It’s important for us to keep those two [2023 first-round] picks because we had done so much to acquire those,” Grier said. “When you make a move like Tyreek, you want to have picks for the future. Five picks in the first three rounds. We feel good about that heading into 2023.”
The 2023 first-round pick from the 49ers was part of the package that Miami received when it traded down from 3 to 12 in last year’s draft. The Dolphins then traded some draft capital to Philadelphia to move from 12 to 6.
Is it correct to conclude that Miami — which doesn’t have a top 100 pick next week — will not try to move into the first round?
“Yeah,” Grier said, before adding, “We’ll always listen. If there’s an opportunity for a guy we think is a special talent that’s falling, I would never say never. We’ll always investigate anything.”
Asked why the team committed to Tua Tagovailoa instead of trying to find another quarterback, he mentioned that all of the team’s coaching candidates “felt excited” about Tagovailoa “and wanted to work with him and felt they could win with him. The history of the research they’ve done shows they really believed in him, as we did. Exciting times.”
Grier said that research indicated to him that the coaching candidates weren’t praising Tagovailoa for the sole purpose of getting the job but actually believed it.
Grier said new coach Mike McDaniel and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell “have been raving about Tua and the time working with him, in the meeting room and the field.”
Grier, in his league-required annual predraft news conference, addressed other issues:
▪ He declined to address reports by Pro Football Talk and The Boston Globe that Tom Brady not only planned to join the Dolphins’ ownership group this offseason, but also would have been given a high-level executive position. A source confirmed those reports.
That plan reportedly was torpedoed by Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the Dolphins. And Brady, weeks after retiring, decided to continue playing with Tampa Bay, which already had him under contract.
Brady will be a free agent after the 2022 season and could sign with the Dolphins next spring if either party wants that. It’s widely expected that he will join the Dolphins’ ownership group at some point, in part because of his friendship with owner Stephen Ross and owner-in-waiting Bruce Beal, the team’s vice chairman.
▪ On trading DeVante Parker to New England, Grier said: “More teams in the past couple years have made intradivisional trades. [There was a time] you never did it.”
Grier said one of the last times Miami did that was trading Wes Welker to New England, and he noted that didn’t turn out well. Welker is the Dolphins’ new wide receivers coach.
“Once we made the call for Tyreek, we received multiple phone calls on DeVante,” Grier said. “Most teams assumed when we traded for Tyreek, signed Cedric Wilson and had Jaylen Waddle, that DeVante is the guy that would be available. Multiple teams called, and the Patriots were most aggressive. Getting that third-round pick [in 2023] was very important for us.”
▪ The Dolphins have only four draft picks in next week’s draft — 102 (at the end of the third round, via San Francisco), 125 (a fourth-rounder) and two seventh-rounders: 224 and 247.
“When we have as few picks as we do, you have to be right on them, very measured on how he fits. When you’re picking third, fourth round and two sevens, you have to make sure what you’re getting and how he fits on the team.”
▪ He said the decision to trade first- and second-round picks — and other assets — for Hill had nothing to do with any lack of conviction about this draft class.
“Everything is a projection. Trading those picks has nothing to do with how the draft looked. It’s an opportunity to acquire Tyreek Hill.”
▪ Grier said the “offensive line group” in this draft “is a pretty good offensive line group. There’s talent all the way through, tackles, guards, centers. Everyone is always looking for pass rushers. There are high level rushers in this draft.”
Asked if the team wants to see if it will get a center in the draft before signing a veteran as competition for Michael Deiter, Grier was noncommittal.
“We’ll always keep looking at players. We have an opportunity post draft to add a lot through undrafted free agency. Some players will always fall through the cracks. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort on the back end of the draft. We’ve added players every year in the summer and we’ll keep doing that.”
▪ Grier said he does not monitor social media, but his son does. And his son told Grier: “Before we made those [big] moves, everyone hates you in South Florida.”
But after the Dolphins acquired Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, his son told him “Man, everyone loves you now.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 10:25 AM.
