The Lions have hired former Dolphins GM to join their front office in a move that strengthens their biggest strength
The Detroit Lions just added a former NFL GM to their front office in a move that strengthens a strength—and reinforces exactly how they want to build their roster in the future.
This is a pretty notable story. The Detroit Lions are adding to their front office by bringing in a former NFL general manager.
The Lions are hiring former Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier as a personnel executive
Grier brings a ton of experience to the table. Including spending the last 10 seasons as the Dolphins’ general manager. He was brought in the year after Dan Campbell was the interim head coach for Miami, and Grier actually interviewed Campbell for the job he would wind up giving to Adam Gase.
Grier can take credit for drafting several All-Pros and Pro Bowlers like Laremy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Xavien Howard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane, and a slew of other notable names. But the Dolphins never got past the Wild Card round while he was there.
Before getting the GM job in Miami, he was their director of college scouting and was a scout himself. His path to being a GM looks a lot like Brad Holmes’ path. When you see that, you can see why Holmes might want to add someone like Grier.
If there’s one thing Chris Grier brings to Detroit, it’s a set of trained scouting eyes that have been doing this longer than most front offices have been intact. This is a guy who didn’t just land in a GM chair—he spent decades grinding through film rooms, cross-checking boards, and building rosters from the ground up. You can question some of the big-picture results in Miami, sure, but the ability to identify real NFL talent has never been the issue. Time and time again, Grier found foundational players who could actually play, develop, and stick. That’s the part that matters in Detroit. Because they are all about their draft and retention strategy.
What Lions fans might be hopeful for is that he showed he can be pretty aggressive at times, like trades for Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey, for example. Maybe he can get into Holmes’ ear a little bit on moves like that. But I would not hold your breath that those happen right away with all the extensions the Lions have to do right now.
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