Tag: Chris Grier

What Dolphins brass said (and didn’t say) about Tyreek Hill situation

The Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier said they met with Tyreek Hill for an hour earlier this week. Are things smoothed over now?

Tensions between the Miami Dolphins and Tyreek Hill have cooled off in the days since the wide receiver told reporters Sunday that he was “opening the door” to leave the team this offseason.

After initially taking inspiration from Antonio Brown on social media, the receiver has changed his profile picture on X back to a photo of himself in a Dolphins uniform.

“We met for I want to say an hour yesterday,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said Tuesday. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest and it was great terms that we were discussing. Discussed multiple things including without wavering that it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated in the future, and he embraced accountability. I wouldn’t say there’s anything necessarily to fix as much as we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”

Was that meeting enough to smooth things over and pave the way for Hill to return and play for the Dolphins in 2025? It’s hard to say.

General manager Chris Grier told reporters that the receiver “never asked for a trade” in their conversations. But he also said that Hill didn’t do any backtracking on his Sunday comments either.

Hill’s contract, which was restructured just before the start of the 2024 season, makes things a little tricky. Even if the Dolphins were thoroughly fed up with the receiver’s actions — which wouldn’t be surprising considering the team’s discipline issues — releasing Hill isn’t a financially viable move.

Barring an attempt to forfeit the guarantees in his contract, Miami’s most salary cap-friendly plan of action may be to make peace with Hill for now before trading him in the summer.

Then again, the Dolphins are severely lacking in wide receiver depth. The team may decide that its better off with an eight-time Pro Bowler at the position, even if it means continuing to deal with the drama that Hill brings to the table.

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Mike McDaniel is hunting for an answer to the Dolphins’ discipline issue

Mike McDaniel said he fined certain players multiple times, but it “didn’t move the needle.”

The Miami Dolphins had a discipline issue and head coach Mike McDaniel had a hard time finding a solution during the 2024 season.

“I can fine people til they’re blue in the face,” McDaniel said at a press conference Tuesday. “One thing I did learn during the course of the season is that fining guys … didn’t particularly move the needle in the way we need to, so I’ll adjust as I should as the head coach.”

The exact issues were mostly kept behind closed doors, but several of the team’s leaders told reporters that discipline needs to be a point of emphasis in 2025.

“There was things going on this year, obviously in the background, that needed to get taken care of,” Dolphins defensive lineman Zach Sieler said Monday. “We needed to be on our p’s and q’s earlier in the season and earlier in camp.”

“You definitely need structure any time you’re striving to do something great,” Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith added. “There’s a lot of things we need to clean up as a team.”

So what comes next if players won’t respond to being fined? Parting ways.

“We’re at the point in our team where guys are firmly aware of the expectations, and if your actions continually lead to finable offenses that you’re telling me without words that you don’t want to be here. I think it’s very clear,” McDaniel said.

Will anything change with both McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier set to return? The latter says that’s largely up to the players.

“Players have to be accountable for each other,” Grier said. “Coaches aren’t around them 24/7. “It’s clearly understood now and Mike’s message to the team was very well received.”

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Dolphins GM says Tua Tagovailoa taking health risks is ‘unacceptable’

Chris Grier says Tua Tagovailoa missing six and a half games is a huge reason the Dolphins came up short in 2024.

When Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier was asked Tuesday why the team’s 2024 season fell way short of expectations, he pinned some of the blame on Tua Tagovailoa’s inability to avoid injuries.

“Injuries happen, it is what it is, every team deals with it,” Grier said. “Our biggest one is obviously the quarterback. When he misses six and a half games and we miss it by a game getting into the playoffs — to me that’s the difference.”

Tagovailoa, 26, suffered a concussion early in the second half of a Week 2 game against the Buffalo Bills. That hit sent him to the injured reserve, which cost him four games. Later in the season, he suffered a hip injury that sidelined Tagovailoa for the last two games of the season.

In his absence, the Dolphins went 2-4 with Tyler Huntley and Skylar Thompson taking over starting duties.

“[Tagovailoa] needs to be available,” Grier said. “He needs to know how to protect himself. Like, you’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control.

“He understands that not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us. And he knows that.”

When Tagovailoa returned from IR in October, he said as much in his first press conference back.

“Just got to be smart,” the quarterback told reporters. “My entire time playing football, I’ve been a competitor and that is or was sort of my edge when I would run from high school, even in college I would do the same thing.

“But it’s a professional setting; this is the professional level, the best of the best, you just cant be doing that. So definitely got to stay more available for the team, for the organization, for our guys.”

In five seasons with the Dolphins, Tagovailoa has played more than 13 games in just one year. Multiple concussions cost him four regular season games and a playoff start in 2022, and he sat out four games in 2021 due to ribs and finger injuries.

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Dolphins GM: ‘We’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now’

Dolphins GM Chris Grier says an offensive line that was “nicked, battered, bruised” in 2024 needs some upgrades.

In a press conference Tuesday, Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier defended his lack of concern about the team’s offensive line prior to the 2024 season. However, he also said investments up front are a must in the coming offseason.

“That group did nothing but work,” Grier said of the offensive line. “It’s the hardest working group in the building. … We feel like we have some good pieces there.”

After recording an NFL-best 5.1 yards per rushing attempt during the 2023 season, the Dolphins plummeted to 29th in the NFL in 2024 with 4.0 yards per carry.

Grier said it didn’t help that Austin Jackson, Kion Smith, and Isaiah Wynn suffered injuries that kept them out for most or all of the year.

“Through Week 9 or 10 we were still up there running the ball, moving, playing well. [Jackson] was a huge loss for us,” Grier said. “Once he went down, it was like a slow bleed-out the rest of the year with guys just playing through stuff, being nicked, battered, bruised.”

The team may have three long-term starters on the roster in Jackson, center Aaron Brewer, and 2024 second-round pick Patrick Paul. But guards Robert Smith and Liam Eichenberg struggled throughout the year, and veterans Terron Armstead and Kendall Lamm may be nearing retirement.

“I did think we had created some depth,” Grier said. “I think [the line] deserved some praise because of what they had done the year before. And they started the year out well, but unfortunately, injuries got to us and we didn’t finish well.

“We’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now. We’re just older there now. So yes, this is the time, like we did a few years ago … this is the time for us to invest in some offensive lineman.”

The Dolphins are projected to own 10 selections in the 2025 NFL draft, beginning with the No. 13 overall selection in the first round.

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Dolphins retain Mike McDaniel, GM Chris Grier for 2025 season

Stephen Ross made it official that Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier are staying, despite a disappointing season.

The Miami Dolphins are retaining both head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier for the 2025 season, despite a disappointing 8-9 finish to 2024, team owner Stephen Ross announced Sunday night.

“As we now look towards 2025, our football operation will continue to be led by Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel with my full support,” a statement from Ross reads, in part. “Their positive working relationship is an asset to the Dolphins, and I believe in the value of stability. However, continuity in leadership is not to be confused with an acceptable that status quo is good enough.”

Earlier in the evening, McDaniel told reporters that it was his “full expectation” that both he and Grier would still be with the franchise in 2025.

McDaniel, who was hired by the team in 2022, led the Dolphins to the playoffs in his first two seasons and has a 28-23 record in his tenure. Grier first joined the Dolphins as a scout in 2000 and assumed the general manager role in 2016.

The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, the longest postseason victory drought in the NFL.

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Mike McDaniel: ‘Full expectation’ is I’ll be back in 2025 along with GM

Mike McDaniel doesn’t think he or Chris Grier are going anywhere.

Mike McDaniel doesn’t think a disappointing and sub .500 season for the Miami Dolphins will cost him his job.

“My full expectation is to be back,” McDaniel told reporters after a Week 18 loss to the New York Jets. “I prefer to keep our conversations [with owner Stephen Ross] to our conversations, it’s not really the platform for it, but that’s my full expectation.”

When asked if he believed general manager Chris Grier was also in line to return for the 2025 season, McDaniel gave a similar response.

“My full expectation is our relationship will continue to be strong and a working relationship, for sure,” McDaniel said of Grier.

Earlier in the weekend, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported that there’s a “strong rumor” in NFL circles that Grier will soon retire from his position to potentially serve in an advisory role. However, there’s been zero indication from Grier or any other Dolphins brass that the general manager is considering stepping down from the role.

A decision to retain McDaniel wouldn’t be a surprise. While he’s yet to lead the Dolphins to a postseason victory, the team has a 28-23 record with the coach and two trips to the playoffs. After a Week 16 win against the San Francisco 49ers, Ross seemed to make his feelings about McDaniel’s job performance crystal clear by dishing out a game ball to the coach.

The retention of Grier is a much tougher sell.

Grier, 54, has been with the franchise since 2000 and took over as GM in 2016. In nine seasons, Grier hasn’t constructed a roster capable of winning a playoff game.

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CBS reports ‘strong rumor’ Dolphins GM could retire soon

There’s rumblings that the Dolphins could have a general manager vacancy sooner rather than later, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.

There’s chatter around NFL circles that Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier could soon retire and move to a senior advisor role with the franchise, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported Saturday.

“Many have questioned whether the 84-year-old Stephen Ross would want to conduct a search for a new GM, especially considering how well-liked Grier is within the building,” Jones added in his report.

In nine seasons with Grier at the helm, the Dolphins have developed into a consistently good-but-not-great team. If the team can earn a win Sunday against the New York Jets, it would secure a fifth consecutive winning record and, possibly, a third straight trip to the playoffs.

But the team is still looking for its first postseason victory since 2000, as wins on the biggest stages have eluded the franchise throughout Grier’s tenure.

At the top of the list of criticisms of Grier’s management of the roster is the team’s struggles to win in the trenches. Amid abundant concerns about the state of the Dolphins’ interior offensive line, Grier told reporters in August “you guys are probably more worried than we are” about the issue. Now the team is 31st in the NFL in rushing yards per carry and poor play from guards Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg jump out as the biggest reason for the struggles.

It was also evident in August that the Dolphins had serious concerns at backup quarterback. But it wasn’t until Tua Tagovailoa got hurt in September that the team identified Ravens practice squad passer Tyler Huntley was a better option than Skylar Thompson.

It hasn’t helped either that injuries have stacked up for the Dolphins at almost every position in 2024. While luck plays a significant role in that, Grier has done little to avoid drafting and signing players with histories of injuries.

Still, the Dolphins have also made shrewd moves to add stars like Tyreek Hill, Jalen Ramsey, and Bradley Chubb to the roster. In the 2024 offseason, Miami signed several impact free agents, including Calais Campbell, Jonnu Smith, Jordyn Brooks, and Aaron Brewer. In the draft, the team picked Chop Robinson, who is second among all rookies in sacks.

Grier, 54, began his scouting career with the New England Patriots in 1994 and joined the Dolphins’ scouting staff in 2000. He took over as the team’s general manager in 2016.

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Mike McDaniel says it’d be ‘selfish’ to worry about getting fired

Mike McDaniel says he isn’t thinking about the possibility that he’s in his final weeks with the Dolphins.

With a disappointing season winding down and the playoffs looking highly unlikely, changes could be on the way for the Miami Dolphins soon. Head coach Mike McDaniel says he isn’t worried about that, though.

“I’m very comfortable of the realities within the profession I chose,” McDaniel said Wednesday. “The alternative would be to feel entitled. I don’t take for granted for this week’s opponent and this day and those opportunities. Ultimately, you know what it is when you sign up for it and I’m not worried about [getting fired] in the slightest.

“I think that would be absolutely selfish. If I’m worried about that, I’m definitely not worried about the things that I have to offer the players that are playing in a professional football game.”

McDaniel, 41, was hired by the Dolphins in 2022 and led the team to the postseason in his first two seasons with the team. However, Miami lost both of its playoff games under McDaniel and has earned a reputation for losing its matchups against contenders. The team’s 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday was the latest example.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier is even more under the microscope after failing to lead the franchise to a postseason victory in nine seasons as the team’s lead executive.

For now, though, the Dolphins have three games left, beginning with their last home game of the year on Sunday.

“We have enough to worry about with the San Francisco 49ers and I don’t take that lightly,” McDaniel said. “That’s where our sole focus is.”

The Dolphins have a 26-22 regular season record during McDaniel’s tenure.

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Stephen Ross ‘really believes in’ people he hired, says Mike McDaniel

Stephen Ross has been “disappointed” but “very supportive” of the Dolphins staff, says Mike McDaniel.

Despite a frustrating and disappointing first half of the 2024 season, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has remained supportive of the team’s top decision-makers, according to head coach Mike McDaniel.

“He knows the people that he’s hired that he really believes in and so he’s very supportive,” McDaniel said of Ross on Monday. “I think he’s also supremely competitive so he doesn’t like to lose, but he’s kind of – we’re definitely aligned in that it’s the process and evaluating that and sometimes results are fleeting, and they fall in different arenas. He tries to do everything in his power to facilitate success, so he’s disappointed obviously when we don’t have it.”

McDaniel was hired by the Dolphins in February 2022 and led the team to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons, although the team failed to get a win in either postseason appearance. After a 2-5 start this season, McDaniel has a 22-19 record with the Dolphins.

In August, McDaniel received an extension through the 2028 season.

Perhaps the bigger question mark is how secure Chris Grier’s place is as the Dolphins’ general manager. The 54-year-old executive has been with the organization since 2000 and has served as its GM since 2016.

The Dolphins’ rough start in 2024 has largely been due to roster flaws like the team’s inability to find a reliable backup quarterback, or avoid adding players with an injury history. Miami has also received very little contribution from its recent draft classes with the exception of running backs De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright.

If Miami’s tailspin continues and no rebound happens, it’s hard to imagine Grier’s job is safe. But for now, it seems Ross is still willing to ride out things with the Dolphins’ current brain trust.

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Tyreek Hill seemingly defends GM Chris Grier against fan criticism

Tyreek Hill thinks Chris Grier can’t win with Dolphins fans, no matter what he does.

General manager Chris Grier isn’t the most popular figure among Miami Dolphins fans. Mediocre draft results and lackluster free agency decisions already had many frustrated, and the team’s 2-3 start to the 2024 season only fanned the flames.

It seems Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill thinks Grier can’t win with fans, no matter what he does:

While Hill doesn’t name Grier, specifically, it’s not too hard to read between the lines. The receiver is seemingly saying that even if the Dolphins signed future Hall of Fame defensive tackle Aaron Donald, fans would criticize the decision.

The Dolphins have finished with four consecutive winning records and earned a spot in the playoffs in the last two seasons. However, it’s not hard to find faults in Grier’s recent decisions.

None of the team’s 2022 draft picks are contributing at all in 2024, and running back De’Von Achane is the Dolphins’ only draft pick from 2023 who has seen the field this year. Miami also finds itself with an anemic pass rush and is missing the contributions of Andrew Van Ginkel, who was allowed to leave the roster in free agency.

Perhaps the criticism of Grier is sometimes overblown, as Hill said. But there’s no lack of reasons for fans’ frustrations.

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