Time for Dolphins’ Ross to pay attention, become better steward of franchise
There’s enough blame to fill what’s left of the world’s melting glaciers after this debacle of an opener in which the Dolphins were dominated, 33-8, by a mediocre Colts team and looks further from contention than any time this decade.
“Unprepared, uninspired, unacceptable,” Dolphins legend Larry Csonka tweeted afterward.
Blame 10-year general manager Chris Grier for frittering away a treasure trove of resources, failing to build a team that can win a single playoff game and constructing a 2025 roster with more holes than clothes in a moth-infested closet.
Blame Mike McDaniel and his staff for not having this team remotely prepared for its opener and offering no suitable answers, in more than a year, for a two-high safety look that has been around forever.
Blame the quarterback for delivering a stinker in the opener, raising more doubts about whether Tua Tagovailoa can take any team deep into the playoffs.
But you know where the proverbial buck stops with a franchise that hasn’t won anything meaningful in a quarter century?
The guy who has signed the checks since 2009.
Steve Ross is well-intentioned, philanthropic, and willing to give his front-office whatever it needs to win. He has spent endlessly to foster an environment that has led to the Dolphins receiving two consecutive first-place honors in the NFL Players Union annual report card, rewarding them for the poshness of their facilities, the comfort of their airplane and the elegance of their training room.
But Ross’ patience with an underperforming front office has gone from restrained and disciplined to reckless and unjustified, making him look increasingly clueless about what it takes to win in the NFL.
We wrote after last year’s season finale that Ross might be one of the most patient men on Earth for continuing to overlook bad decision after bad decision and offering his GM more second chances than the woman who keeps giving her boyfriend a mulligan for cheating on her.
The owners who leave an indelible mark hire at least one person who has a profoundly positive longterm impact on his/her franchise: Joe Robbie with Don Shula; Heat owner Micky Arison with Pat Riley; Panthers owner Vinnie Viola with general manager Bill Zito, who constructed a team that has made three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals and won two. We’re still waiting on Ross to find one in year 17.
Ross, 85, should have started wondering about Grier’s competence a year after the team drafted bust Charles Harris over perennial Pro Bowler T.J. Watt in 2017. (Grier and the Dolphins were worried that Watt’s excellence at Wisconsin was limited to one season, according to a team source.)
Ross should have become more suspicious after Grier signed a quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick) who was clearly too good to achieve the owner’s goal of being able to select the best quarterback in the 2019 draft, instead of hiring a QB far more tank-worthy (Josh Johnson) who would have dramatically increased the likelihood of landing first overall pick Joe Burrow.
He should have grown more skeptical after Grier squandered early round picks on Noah Igbinoghene, Cam Smith, Liam Eichenberg, Channing Tindall and traded a second-rounder for Josh Rosen.
There’s seemingly never a tipping point for the owner to lose patience and overhaul his front office. Enough never seems to be enough for Ross.
Grier ignoring him and passing on Ross’ suggestion to draft Lamar Jackson wasn’t enough.
Grier ignoring everyone and repeatedly fielding inadequate offensive lines wasn’t enough.
Not winning a playoff game despite tanking a season wasn’t enough.
So what exactly is enough?
Benefit of the doubt is always offered for this GM, even when none is deserved.
Ross, who’s busy trying to build West Palm Beach into a mecca, could have spoken up during the offseason when his friends assuredly told him that Miami’s cornerback group was delinquently inadequate.
He could have asked Brian Flores during the interview process if he was fine with making player development the clear priority over winning in 2019. (That could have avoided a lawsuit, an NFL investigation, the docking of draft picks and a lot of aggravation.)
He could have asked McDaniel specifically how he could justify fielding an offense that produced the third fewest 20-plus yard passing plays last season despite employing two of the league’s seven highest paid receivers (Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) and precisely what his coach would do to change it.
He could have pushed back on Grier giving his quarterback a $212 million deal ($167 million guaranteed) when he was coming off the only healthy season of his football life, the type of contract that no team would give him now after Tagovailoa’s concussion last season and a dreadful opener Sunday (14 for 23, 114 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, 51.7 passer rating).
He should have asked how Miami ended up with the fragile Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle instead of Justin Herbert and Ja’Marr Chase when both were available to Miami in the 2020 and 2021 drafts.
He should have asked Grier why Miami didn’t sign a quality defensive tackle in free agency so that it could pick the best available player in the draft in April, instead of needing to select Kenneth Grant (who had little impact Sunday) one spot before the Colts snagged tight end Tyler Warren, who looked like a future star.
He should have pressed Grier on why there was a need to trade second-, third- and fourth-round picks for guard Jonah Savaiinaea, who allowed a sack and was pushed around Sunday.
He should have asked Grier why he can never seem to build trenches that can match the physicality of the league’s best teams.
He should have asked Grier why, after the Odell Beckham Jr. mistake, would he entrust tight end on an older player coming off a year in retirement (now injured Darren Waller) instead of paying Jonnu Smith (who had the best season by a tight end in Dolphins history) or topping Cincinnati’s modest $3.5 million offer for solid starter Noah Fant, who caught a TD for the Bengals on Sunday, 41 days after visiting Dolphins offices.
Today, he should be asking McDaniel how his team could look so ill-prepared for an opener and how the offense could be so inept against a defense that ranked 29th last season. He should be asking why his record on challenges is so poor and why he didn’t challenge an apparent catch by Hill that was ruled incomplete.
He should be asking Grier how he couldn’t see the shortcomings in a defensive backfield that his secondary coach (Brian Duker) told me on Aug. 4 that the media was more concerned about than the team was – a unit that permitted Daniel Jones to throw for more first half yards (197) than 70 previous games of an immensely disappointing career.
Mostly Ross should be paying more attention, demanding accountability and imposing consequences for underperformance.
Unless the Dolphins become dramatically better quickly, massive changes (front office, coaching staff) will be necessary. Making those changes after one game likely accomplishes nothing, but an overhaul in several weeks would be justified if this isn’t fixed.
There’s a fine line between meddling and offering the type of oversight and stewardship necessary over a front office and staff that deserves no benefit of the doubt.
If Ross cannot do that — if he cannot recognize that this front office did not deserve a chance for another ‘reset’ after bungling the first one — then there’s no hope that the next six years as owner will be any better than his first 16.
If Ross keeps the team, let’s hope his daughters Jennifer and Kimberly -- who have been designated to inherit the franchise -- have less tolerance for perpetual mediocrity and missteps.
If not, a lost quarter century could become a lost half century.
This story was originally published September 7, 2025 at 3:56 PM.
