Kelly: Chris Grier finally acknowledges Dolphins are resetting roster | Opinion
There’s one thing I’ve discovered throughout life to be a universal truth, and it’s that we get what we pay for.
Goods that are made from quality materials don’t come cheap, and cheap stuff doesn’t last.
While there might be an exception to this rule here and there, if you want something to have staying power, you will usually pay a pretty penny for it.
This offseason the Miami Dolphins went cheap in free agency, offering mostly minimum-based salaries to NFL journeymen, and many of those players who signed this spring didn’t upgrade last year’s 8-9 team.
And that’s why general manager Chris Grier is scavenging the waiver wire for talent such as cornerback Julius “JuJu” Bents, signing two grizzled veteran defenders in Matthew Judon and Rasul Douglas a couple of days before the season opener, and re-signed offensive tackle Kendall Lamm to fortify a troublesome offensive line.
“Every year is different,” Grier said Wednesday when asked about the team’s fiscally responsible offseason approach to building the 2025 roster. “We’ve had years here where it’s been all draft-focused for a couple of years, and at some point you have to reset. When you go and make aggressive moves like we’ve made for two years [paying big-name free agents, and trading draft picks for players] you have to reset and start it over.”
And that’s exactly what this 2025 season is, a reset of what happened the previous three seasons, when Miami took an infamous F those picks approach to building the roster, trading draft assets for players who the decision-makers felt could help Miami make a title run that never happened.
“It’s just not sustainable with the way the contracts are with players, what they are making now,” Grier continued, explaining why talented players Miami drafted, standouts such as Christian Wilkins, Robert Hunt, Jevon Holland and Andrew Van Ginkel signed elsewhere for larger contracts than Miami was willing to offer.
“We’re working through [budgeting] and trying to find value,” Grier said. “We also have to get younger.”
Grier is referring to a team that now features three rookies in defensive lineman Kenneth Grant, left guard Jonah Savaiinaea and cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who are positioned to be season-opening starters, and nine first-, second- or third-year players expected to play prominent roles in De’Von Achane, Malik Washington, Chop Robinson, Patrick Paul, Storm Duck, Julian Hill, Ollie Gordon II, Jordan Phillips and Ethan Bonner.
“We’re in a different spot,” Grier said, explaining the Dolphins’ roster reset, which has left Miami with a solid core of starters, but lackluster backups. “That’s the direction we’re going right now.”
The problem is, the Dolphins haven’t been good enough at drafting to fortify the roster’s depth issues, and plenty of Miami’s bargain-shopping in free agency produced lackluster returns.
The most expensive player added this offseason was offensive lineman James Daniels, who signed a respectable three-year deal that could be worth $24 million.
Miami got Daniels for a bargain because he was damaged goods coming off an Achilles tear. He has been decent this training camp, but we won’t know how well that money was spent until we see how long the 28-year-old plays, and if he lasts an entire season.
Receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has been one of the more disappointing offseason additions.
Tight end Pharaoh Brown got released this week, and the Dolphins are being patient about Darren Waller’s return from retirement.
The veteran tight end Miami signed after trading Jonnu Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers has been on the roster for nearly two months, and it’s head scratching that the first practice he caught passes from Tua Tagovailoa was Wednesday.
Larry Borom was the only backup offensive linemen added during the offseason, and he has struggled all camp as an offensive tackle. He filled in for Austin Jackson, who sustained a foot injury in camp’s first week, as Miami’s starting right tackle and had some troublesome moments, like the sack he allowed on Tagovailoa’s first drive of Miami’s preseason win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
His play was so shaky the Dolphins were wise to re-sign Lamm, who spent three seasons as Miami’s top offensive tackle backup.
Linebacker Willie Gay Jr., a 55-game NFL starter, has been the most impactful of all Miami’s free agent signees thus far, and the hope is that one of the veteran defensive backs signed this offseason — Ifeatu Melifonwu, Ashtyn Davis, Jack Jones and now Rasul Douglas — will help shore up a Minkah Fitzpatrick-led secondary that has more questions than answers.
Free agency is just one of the mechanisms used to help NFL teams improve. The draft is the other. Unfortunately for Miami, this team has been subpar at drafting during Grier’s era, which explains why Miami has leaned on free agents and trades to boost the roster the past four seasons.
But when you turn off the money machine, reeling in how much the Dolphins are spending to supplement the roster, we’re just left with what I would describe as a mediocre roster.
Or better yet, a roster that’s in transition, or in Grier’s words, a roster that’s being “reset.”
Budget or not, this Dolphins team can produce a winning season.
Miami needs Tagovailoa’s steadying hand, and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle’s playmaking to drive the passing game.
This season, the Dolphins run game will be as good as De’Von Achane and Ollie Gordon II make it, and as forceful as Daniels and Co. can block it.
The defense will feed off Jaelan Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Chop Robinson, Matthew Judon and Zach Sieler’s ability to apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks, and how well an inexperienced secondary led by Fitzpatrick can hold up.
It’s a poorly built team, one that’s patched up with cheap free agents, unproven draftees, injury-prone talent and desperate players. But it does have the elements it needs to be a winner.
Just hope the little talent that’s here stays healthy for those elements to remain in place.
