Dave Hyde: Chris Grier makes his last stand as Dolphins GM

Dave Hyde, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Aug 28, 2025

Published in Football

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Florida Panthers talked to the Miami Dolphins about winning recently.

Sometimes, every hope can be wrapped in a simple sentence like that.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier dropped that news bit Wednesday in his annual session with media that didn’t deliver some memorable line like he typically has done since being named GM a decade ago.

“The dysfunction stops now,” he said way back then.

It never stopped, of course. Last season’s lack of professionalism and this offseason’s purge showed that. It also explained why this is Grier’s last stand, as everyone should know.

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.

“Words don’t matter,” as Grier said Wednesday.

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.

“We’re younger, we’re faster, but I think it’s a closer unit,” he said.

This led to him mentioning the visit by Panthers’ GM Bill Zito and forward Matthew Tkachuck with the Stanley Cup.

“They talked about how the uniqueness and closeness of the locker room is so important,” Grier said. “And so hearing that again just kind of reiterated everything that we’ve been talking to the players about, about spending time together. Like you’ve 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.”

First of all, every South Florida team should hear the Panthers’ 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’s be honest. It wasn’t the prime reason for their winning back-to-back championships, even if the Dolphins don’t want to hear this part.

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.

Zito, you see, is every champion’s first piece. The guy picking the coach and players and setting the franchise’s culture is the most important piece in any sport. That’s Grier with the Dolphins. It’s been Grier for seven years.

And, no, it’s not fair to compare Grier to Zito. It’s not fair to compare most anyone to Zito right now. His batting percentage on moves is that high, his work that rare.

So, instead, let’s talk about the “standard,” as Grier said, that players need to reach this season. His point was they didn’t meet that standard last year. Or any year in memory you want to remember, too.

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

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’s pro, but injured too much. Hill is a handful on and off the field.

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 — and assistant coaches instead were fired. So, it’s not just players who needed a cultural reset.

“Honestly, I was shocked,” Grier said about getting safety Minkah Fitzpatrick back for Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and $7 million of Dolphins dollars.

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’t been great of late?

Here’s 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.

Players acting like pros and getting along together is important.

But everything starts with getting the right players. That’s the standard for any GM. Grier hasn’t got enough right players in his run. The dysfunction in this organization hasn’t stopped as last season showed. His last stand to get it right has begun.