Chris Grier won’t survive this. He just can’t.
If he somehow survives this, then the hell Dolphins fans have been in for 20+ years will continue for much longer.
But I truly do not think Chris Grier will survive this disaster of a 2024 season.
And before I go any further, stop reading this article now if you are one of those myopic fans who think Miami “still has a chance” to turn the season around. I don’t have time for you and the fantasy land of unicorns and rainbows you live in.
This 2024 Miami Dolphins season is over, and this team stinks on toast.
Why does this team stink? One name: Chris Grier
The man whose fingerprints are all over this coaching staff and team.
Chris Grier has nobody left to throw under the bus; this is all on him.
Chris Grier must go!
Grier should have been gone after the entire Brian Flores fiasco, which was all caused by Grier. Remember, the entire hiring of Flores was because of the prior relationship between Grier and Flores.
And, yes, Grier hired Flores just like he hired Mike McDaniel. Stephen Ross is a billionaire real estate mogul. He doesn’t know who the run game coordinator for San Francisco is or was, just like he didn’t know who the linebackers coach for the Patriots was in Flores.
Grier brought these guys to Miami, and both failed as head coach. Yes, they won games, and McDaniel got the Dolphins in the first round of the playoffs, which is something. Still, with the multiple hall-of-fame players on the roster and the loaded roster he had in 2022 and 2023, and after starting 8-3 in 2022 and 9-3 in 2023, late-season collapses made those playoff appearances feel like a letdown.
Then, Grier was the one who wouldn’t let Mike McDaniel hire Vic Fangio his first year as the Dolphins head coach and forced Josh Boyer on McDaniel. Only to realize it was a failure and then give McDaniel what he wanted in his second season as head coach.
Chris Grier can’t hire a head coach as both times (even if he gets a pass on Adam Gase because people will say Grier was the GM, but Tannenbaum made the call) it was a colossal failure.
Then it comes to the players, and I won’t nitpick every draft pick because every GM (even the great ones) has hits and misses. Yes, there are misses, and those should be spoken about. But I’m not going to do that in this article.
But with Grier’s drafts in recent years, they aren’t completely awful if you’re being objective.
Christian Wilkins was a home run pick.
Robert Hunt was a home run pick.
Andrew Van Ginkel was a home run pick.
Jevon Holland was a home run pick.
Jaylen Waddle was a home run pick.
Jaelan Phillips was a home run pick.
De’Von Achane was a home run pick.
Jaylen Wright looks like it may be a home run pick.
Austin Jackson is a solid middle-of-the-the-first-round pick for an offensive tackle.
Brandon Jones was a solid 3rd round pick.
Claiming Zach Sieler off Waivers was a home run move.
The problem Chris Grier has is that many of the names listed above aren’t here anymore. They never saw a second contract. Or, in the case of Andrew Van Ginkel, he got a one-year deal after his rookie deal, in which he had a career season, and then he left town, and it came out that Miami never offered him a contract.
Are all of those players listed above superstars? No! But they are solid NFL players, and Wilkins, Holland, Waddle, and Phillips are superstars or on the brink of superstardom. The others are reliable NFL starters for the most part.
If any other NFL General Manager drafted that group, they would be trying to move heaven and earth to keep as many as possible because that is a good young core to build around to try and win a championship with.
Especially when you compliment it on Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Ramsey, and Bradley Chubb.
While yes, there is a salary cap, and it is impossible to keep everyone, Miami keeps almost nobody they draft beyond their rookie contract except for a few. Grier felt it was okay to let guys like Van Ginkel go and replace him with Shaq Barrett. He also let Brandon Jones go (along with DeShon Elliott, who was a good free-agent signing of his) and brought in Jordan Poyer and Marcus Maye. These are two older players well past their prime, especially in the case of Poyer.
There was no foresight that Wilkins and Hunt may break the bank, and from what I have been told, there was no effort a year or two before they got on the open market, and there were no serious talks to lock them up long-term.
Then there is the case of the offensive line overall.
Oh, that pesky offensive line!
Grier’s inability to draft offensive linemen has been a big part of Miami’s failure in building this position group. That is why he has had to overpay for Terron Armstead, take flyers on Isaiah Wynn, sign Connor Williams, and move him to a position he never really played before.
Grier’s persistence in sticking by Liam Eichenberg for many years, no matter how many times he has failed, is head-scratching. This is why he can’t stay as the GM; he will probably look to retain and keep Liam after this season when he is a free agent.
The failure to address the backup quarterback situation was also a mind-boggling mistake that will ultimately cost him his job.
Say what you want about Tua Tagovailoa and if Grier should have selected him 5th overall. That can be debated to the end of time, but it’s not like the guys taken behind him in the 2020 draft are all that much better, if they are better at all.
Grier’s problem is knowing you have an injury-prone quarterback (and he was injured when you drafted him and injured often in college) and not having a reliable backup quarterback. It is malpractice. It’s gross malpractice not to have a reliable backup quarterback after the 2022 season, in which he had two (or three) concussions.
And Mike White isn’t a serious answer to being a reliable backup quarterback.
Whatever Chris Grier’s vision and philosophy for team building in the NFL isn’t working, in fact, they have failed miserably.
The NFL is a simple business like that. We keep score every Sunday, and the results matter.
Grier has given us no results.
If you asked for Chris Grier’s resume and for him to list all of his accomplishments, it would be a blank sheet of paper.
I’m sure he will tell you “bad luck” and “injuries,” but that isn’t a valid excuse. Every team has injuries and bad luck; they find a way to overcome them. None of the teams Grier has ever built have been able to overcome.
Due to the poor decisions he has made.
Chris Grier has gotten a paycheck from the Miami Dolphins organization for 24 years….24!
All things must come to an end, and it is time to fire Chris Grier. It probably won’t happen in season (and it shouldn’t; he should have to suffer through this mess like every Dolphins fan is having to). However, on the Monday after the Week 18 game, I expect to see a tweet from Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport stating that Miami has decided to relieve Chris Grier of his duties.
Oh, and on a final note, the NFL Trade deadline is November 5th, and I know there is worry about what Grier will do. To me, the answer is simple. Grier should not be allowed to trade for any player. He should be allowed to trade away current Dolphins players for future draft picks only. And all trades must be signed off on by some executive committee that is higher on the food chain than Grier.
