The Dolphins enter the offseason with tons of cap room and a bevy of draft capital. Will GM Chris Grier‘s capitalize on those picks? History suggests that he just might. ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe took a trip down memory lane recently, and highlighted some of Grier’s biggest hits over the past three years.
Successful selections include offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil (2016 first-round pick), cornerback Xavien Howard (2016 second-round pick), cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick (2018 first-round pick), and linebacker Jerome Baker (2018 third-round pick). Of course, Grier wasn’t as fortunate in 2017 as he whiffed on first-round defensive end Charles Harris and third-round corner Cordrea Tankersley.
The Dolphins are currently set to pick at Nos. 5, 18, and 26 overall in the first round, but they’re also expected to move around as they kick their rebuild into high gear.
Here’s more from the AFC East:
- For what it’s worth, Grier says the Dolphins‘ plan “right now” is for Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen to both be on the offseason roster, as Wolfe writes. It remains to be seen whether Fitzpatrick, 37, will return for another season, but the quarterback has confessed that retirement would be difficult for him. As it stands, Fitzpatrick is under contract for $8MM in 2020 with $4MM guaranteed. Pairing Fitzpatrick with a rookie quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa – who will be ready to throw in April – would make a lot of sense. Meanwhile, it’s hard to see Rosen fitting into the picture.
- When asked about the power dynamic between head coach Adam Gase and general manager Joe Douglas, Manish Mehta of the Daily News pointed to the lengths of their respective contracts. Gase, who came along first, received a four-year deal from the club. Douglas, who joined late in the 2019 offseason after Mike Maccagnan‘s ill-time ouster, got a six-year deal with Gang Green. Gase helped push the Jets to hire Douglas, and has influence on personnel decisions, but Mehta writes that Douglas indeed has the upper hand on 53-man roster matters. In other words, as Mehta writes, a tie goes to Douglas.
- The Bills could lose assistant GM Joe Schoen to the Browns.
Dolphins suck always have since ive lived… even Dan Marino being 20 couldn’t save them!
Got it… football only became relevant in your lifetime. Thank you to your mother for giving birth to you!
Lol
Cubs fan,
That’s best you’ve got your in the sun too much!
Great comment
Not sure how you can consider Tunsil & M Fitz successful picks when they were both traded this offseason on their rookie deals? If they’re that good, why trade them, right?
Wasn’t X Howard accused of DV recently as well?
They both were worth 1st round picks , four and two years after they were originally drafted. Which means Miami got a couple seasons out of them and then sold them for full value . That’s a successful pick( no depreciation ) .
Did you watch football this year? Minkah is the real deal.
Sorry, but if you’re trading 1st rounders on their 1st contract, it means you don’t like them for some reason. And they play premium positions. If the same GM is cutting bait on his own high picks, they cannot be considered good picks.
You must not follow football much either… Minkah wanted to be traded, not the Dolphins GM. He was upset that they weren’t going to be competitive this year or next year. So that fact that their GM got another 1st round pick for him is actually a good thing.
We could argue if he was a “good pick.” Considering his production on the field, yes he is a good pick. It’s unfortunate for the Dolphins that it was with a different team.
So that makes them not good because the GM decided to trade them? That is funny.
Btw, Fitzpatrick is first team all-pro.
Cubs,
Oh the guy you traded to the Steelers that put on a show?
Guess again… I’m a Steelers fan. Thrilled that Minkah is in the black and gold.
Cubsfan,
Me too but they need to start grooming/draft Bens replacement. We both saw how awful they are without him. Thank goodness for the d stepping up!
While both minkah and tunsil were good picks the picks the picks they got back aren’t high enough in the draft to get a player of their caliber again
King Beas..That nails it! As for cubsfan, many players want to be traded, it doesn’t mean they are. I mean what competitive player, in any sport, wants to play for a bottom feeder vs that of a playoff team?
I would argue that trading Tunsil for 2 firsts and a second, the year before he is going to get PAID was pretty smart. Getting a top 20 pick for Minkah was pretty good value too as having an AllPro safety on a non playoff team is a luxury. The NFL is won at QB and i. The trenches.
No one wants to play for Miami. I’m sure they take less to have a shot at winning which Miami hasn’t had since I’ve live and likely won’t as long as I live
Did you know that once upon a time the Miami Dolphins had an undefeated Super Bowl winning season. This accomplishment, which has yet to be repeated, still means a lot to many Fins fans. I know that history is meaningless for most people, which explains all the love to become socialist, but yeah, the Dolphins have had success and they will again..
lautrec,
Thanks for the history lesson gramps. I’m quite aware of this but that was in the past. We live in a society of what are your doing now! I’ll believe it when I see it keep flying that Dolphin out of your _ _ _ !