Kelly: Next month should decide Dolphins GM Chris Grier’s future
On the day hope got injected back into the Miami Dolphins season because a healthy Tua Tagovailoa was back to spraying completions all over the field in his first practice since Sept. 10 it’s important to fully diagnose the depths of despair this franchise dwelt in the past month.
Why? Because lessons that aren’t learned are destined to be repeated, and that’s exactly the reason South Florida’s franchise has spent the past two decades plus on the mediocrity merry-go-round.
It’s pretty crystal clear that the Dolphins’ main issue is its leadership, or better yet the decisions made by the people in charge.
I can write this with conviction because if all your genius moves involve owner Steve Ross writing a massive check, or the squandering of draft picks, how good are you at your job?
How good are you and your staff at building a healthy, deep roster with upside?
General manager Chris Grier’s responsibility is to build a solid foundation for a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in 24 years and this season’s product hints we’ve possibly wasted an entire rebuild.
Six years down the drain if we’re being honest.
The Dolphins began this rebuild in 2019. It involved a tank of that season (don’t deny it, the NFL penalized them for it), the selection of a first round quarterback (whether it should have been Justin Herbert over Tagovailoa will be debated forever), the hiring of two head coaches (the first one [Brian Flores] couldn’t get along with management or the quarterback), and three massive trades [Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Jalen Ramsey]?
Where is this franchise after all that?
The Dolphins (2-4) are a fraudulent title contender, and become a long shot for a playoff berth if they lose to the Arizona Cardinals (3-4) at home on Sunday in Tagovailoa’s return from the concussion that sidelined him four games.
Let’s hope Tagovailoa puts a cape on and saves this season, but if he doesn’t allow me to nominate a person to offer as a sacrifice if Miami bottoms out the rest of the way.
Grier’s been in Miami’s front office for two decades, he’s run the draft since 2016, and sat at the top of the football operations side since 2019.
The buck stops with him.
Sunday’s home game against Arizona is a must-win situation for these Dolphins because a road game against the Buffalo Bills (5-2) awaits in week 9.
After that Miami plays the struggling Los Angeles Rams (2-4), Las Vegas Raiders (2-5) and New England Patriots (1-6).
Let’s be real, a 2-6 start is the kiss of death for this season, and should provide the goodbye kiss to the person who built this team because not all of Miami’s issues can be excused by Tagovailoa’s absence.
Grier saw this team without Tagovailoa all offseason, when the Pro Bowl quarterback was embarking on a hold-in and limited his practice reps. That means the people in charge were fully aware they had subpar backup quarterbacks since the spring, and did nothing about it.
Even when Mike White was released after losing a camp battle with Skylar Thompson the best quarterback the team added was Tim Boyle, who has never won an NFL game he’s ever thrown a pass in.
I don’t care what McDaniel wanted to do as the head coach, or how he wanted to build his team. Grier is the head man in charge, and the decade old excuse of him doing what his coaches wanted is played out.
Leaders lead, and Grier has led the Dolphins where exactly?
Bad contract structures and costly extensions have made Miami’s financial books a mess, one that annually requires Ross to write big checks to clean it up.
The draft picks aren’t contributing at a high level, and haven’t for years with the exception of tailback De’Von Achane.
This year’s Dolphins roster is old and injury prone, partly because this is the best depth Miami can afford when a massive portion of the salary cap going to six players.
There is no foundation to this roster because the offensive line and defensive line are patched up, and need to be rebuilt next offseason.
Tagovailoa’s return could mask all that, but what happens if it doesn’t?
That’s why I propose that we wipe the slate clean in life without Tagovailoa, and let the next month determine the course this franchise takes moving forward.
We’ve been here before quite a few times the past two decades, so there’s no rush on judgment.
But the team better perform like they are in survival mode because the people in charge might very well be.
