Chris Grier’s greatest sin as the Dolphins general manager wasn’t something he was — it was something he wasn’t
It’s time for a new era. Let’s learn a lesson from this one.
The change many Miami Dolphins fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. The Dolphins have bid farewell to their long-time general manager, Chris Grier, who mutually agreed to part ways after nearly 26 full years in the organization as a scout, personnel executive, and the team’s general manager and lead on football operations.
A second consecutive slow start doomed Grier’s tenure with the team officially, but it was the short-sighted moves of 2022 and 2023 that fueled the Dolphins’ tailspin into this inevitability. Grier, whose vision of a rebuild in 2019 was forged in responsible spending, building a team through the draft, and providing a sustained winner, lost his way with blockbuster deals for names like Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.
The sins of years past have finally caught up to him.
Chris Grier’s greatest sin was his negotiable identity
The Dolphins wanted to be a team that built through the draft. Until they had a bunch of young players, then it was time to throw nearly double-digit picks at the Chiefs and Broncos for two veteran players with mature contracts that the team still carries with them.
The Dolphins wanted to be a team run by a tough, demanding defensive mind. Until that didn’t work well, then it was time to lean into a kinder, softer players’ coach with an offensive background. The Dolphins aimed to target young, developmental players, such as Channing Tindall, Erik Ezukanma, and Elijah Higgins, in the draft. However, none of them hit, so in 2025, it became a point of emphasis to target “high floor” rookies who could start right away.
The team lost value in increments along the way of this build by chasing the opposite of something that didn’t work.
Grier was raised in the Bill Parcells school of football. He worked alongside Parcells and Pete Carroll in New England — guys known for the toughness of their teams. But when Mike McDaniel came to town with big visions of a dynamic skill group and a lesser emphasis on the offensive line, Grier conceded. The Dolphins went all-in on skill players. And it worked for a bit.
But the reality of football is it always comes back to the trenches. And Miami, complacent due to a pair of high-volume defensive tackles and several high-priced free agent offensive linemen, didn’t covet depth enough up front. When injuries hit, the Dolphins’ high-flying act was grounded.
Chris Grier’s tenure as the Miami Dolphins’ GM
- Served as general manager from 2016 through 2025
- Finishes career with a 77-80 record
- No playoff wins
The place of any general manager is to serve as the steward of an organization. Every decision is made with the well-being of the overall team in mind. And he serves as a kind of balance of power to a head coach’s aspirations.
But too often, Grier’s tendency was to defer to his head coach. “Just shopping for groceries for the recipe we’re trying to cook.”
In the end, it produced what one rival executive described as a “directionless operation.” Miami’s identity changed with the seasons. It changed with the coach, and throughout Grier’s unquestioned tenure, the team juggled offensive coordinators from 2019 through 2022 before juggling defensive coordinators from 2022 to 2024.
You can’t develop talent when the scheme is always changing and, on top of that, you’re looking for different traits every year. There’s no shortage of critiques for the job Grier did as the lead in Miami.
But that should be at the top of everyone’s list — he wasn’t convicted enough in his ideal.
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