{"id":322389,"date":"2025-08-27T19:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/322389\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T19:00:14","slug":"dolphins-chris-grier-makes-his-last-stand-as-gm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/322389\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolphins’ Chris Grier makes his last stand as GM"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The Florida Panthers<\/a> talked to the Miami Dolphins<\/a> about winning recently.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, every hope can be wrapped in a simple sentence like that.<\/p>\n

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier dropped that news bit Wednesday in his annual session with media<\/a> that didn\u2019t deliver some memorable line like he typically has done since being named GM a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dysfunction stops now,\u201d he said way back then.<\/p>\n

It never stopped, of course. Last season\u2019s lack of professionalism and this offseason\u2019s purge showed that. It also explained why this is Grier\u2019s last stand, as everyone should know.<\/p>\n

The general-manager-for-life is finally approaching his ninth life and needs a playoff-winning year to stay. You know it. He and coach Mike McDaniel know it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords don\u2019t matter,\u201d as Grier said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

So, with such understood stakes, Grier talked about this season: About this retro idea of leaning on the draft; about the questionable cornerback situation; about the trade of disgruntled Jalen Ramsey; and about some obvious roster changes entering this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re younger, we\u2019re faster, but I think it\u2019s a closer unit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This led to him mentioning the visit by Panthers\u2019 GM Bill Zito and forward Matthew Tkachuck\u00a0with the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey talked about how the uniqueness and closeness of the locker room is so important,\u201d Grier said. \u201cAnd so hearing that again just kind of reiterated everything that we\u2019ve been talking to the players about, about spending time together. Like you\u2019ve heard the players talk about, of that 10-day road trip, how they grew together on it, like it was the greatest thing that ever happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

First of all, every South Florida team should hear the Panthers\u2019 story and hope it rubs off on them. And a tight team like the Panthers have is necessary to win at that level and a good message to spread. But let\u2019s be honest. It wasn\u2019t the prime reason for their winning back-to-back championships, even if the Dolphins don\u2019t want to hear this part.<\/p>\n

The Panthers won because Zito: a) assembled the best roster in hockey by never missing on a trade; b) changed a cute, offensive team into hard-nosed champions by hiring a hard-nosed coach in Paul Maurice; and c) yes, the players he found genuinely like each other and are smart enough to know that matters.<\/p>\n

Zito, you see, is every champion\u2019s first piece. The guy picking the coach and players and setting the franchise\u2019s culture is the most important piece in any sport. That\u2019s Grier with the Dolphins. It\u2019s been Grier for seven years.<\/p>\n

And, no, it\u2019s not fair to compare Grier to Zito. It\u2019s not fair to compare most anyone to Zito right now. His batting percentage on moves is that high, his work that rare.<\/p>\n

So, instead, let\u2019s talk about the \u201cstandard,\u201d as Grier said, that players need to reach this season. His point was they didn\u2019t meet that standard last year. Or any year in memory you want to remember, too.<\/p>\n

Everyone has a standard. The GM, too. The roster has glaring problems every year. Cornerback and offensive-line depth this year<\/a>. Backup quarterback and offensive line last year.<\/p>\n

Grier also did expensive, franchise-changing trades for Bradley Chubb, Tyreek Hill and Ramsey. The players have been exactly as advertised. Chubb is a pro\u2019s pro, but injured too much. Hill is a handful on and off the field.<\/p>\n

Ramsey was such a headache the Dolphins traded him to Pittsburgh, his fourth team. Like Hill, Ramsey was late for practices last year. Like Hill, assistant coaches tried to hold Ramsey to a higher standard \u2014 and assistant coaches instead were fired. So, it\u2019s not just players who needed a cultural re-set.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I was shocked,\u201d Grier said about getting safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back for Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and $7 million of Dolphins dollars.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh has an ironclad culture with a strong coach. Why be shocked it wanted a difficult, upper-tier cornerback and a good receiving tight end for Fitzpatrick, whose great career hasn\u2019t been great of late?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the larger point: Grier paid a third-round pick and close to $60 million for a couple of seasons of Ramsey. Now the migraine is gone but no Dolphins cornerback is close to his talent. The entire position is a question. Grier talked Wednesday of scouring the waiver wires for help<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Players acting like pros and getting along together is important.<\/p>\n

But everything starts with getting the right players. That\u2019s the standard for any GM. Grier hasn\u2019t got enough right players in his run. The dysfunction in this organization hasn\u2019t stopped as last season showed. His last stand to get it right has begun.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: August 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 The Florida Panthers talked to the Miami Dolphins about winning recently. Sometimes, every hope can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[4835,217,7,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-322389","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-chris-grier","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-dolphins","13":"tag-miamidolphins","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115102274434477540","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}