Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier has had some good fortunes as it pertains to 1st-round draft selections. Grier has served as the team’s general manager since 2016 — although he was only granted unquestioned control of the Dolphins’ roster in early 2019. Over the course of that time, Miami has found good players fairly easy to come by, although keeping them on the roster is a different story all together. Grier’s resume in the first round includes:
2016: OT Laremy Tunsil (Traded for two 1st-RD picks & a 2nd-RD pick in August 2019)
2017: DE Charles Harris*
2018: DB Minkah Fitzpatrick (Traded for a 1st-RD pick in September 2019)
2019: DL Christian Wilkins
2020: QB Tua Tagovailoa, OT Austin Jackson (via Fitzpatrick), CB Noah Igbinoghene (via Tunsil)
Charles Harris is officially next. The Dolphins’ regime change has brought many changes to this roster — and almost all of them will have a greater impact on the Dolphins than the subtraction of Harris. The 22nd-overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Harris looms as the lone known exception to Grier’s 1st-round resume of solid football players. Harris has struggled from the jump and has seen his sack production regress from 2 sacks to 1 sack to one half of a sack over his three NFL seasons.
The news broke this morning that DE Charles Harris has been traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2021 7th-round NFL Draft selection.
Miami Dolphins will receive a 2021 seventh round pick from Atlanta for Charles Harris, source tells ESPN.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) May 1, 2020
While Grier’s other subtractions of Tunsil and Fitzpatrick certainly sting (but both did bring plus value in trades and have helped the Dolphins’ aggressive rebuild), Harris should invoke no remorse via trade. If Harris were ever to experience a breakout, 2019 would have been the year. The Dolphins needed pass rush help and simply didn’t get any, signifying it was certainly time to move on. Now, the Dolphins’ rebuilt defensive end room features Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Curtis Weaver and Jason Strowbridge — a group that should find it impossible to avoid being an upgrade.