The Dolphins have been a rather impulsive franchise under Ross and that's more just who he is as an Owner. I'd cite his philosophy and his strategic approach more than his age.
He's not going to hire a HC to whom he gives complete organizational authority like what Kraft gave Bill Belichick in NE or like Jed York gave Kyle Shanahan to come in and take over as HC of the 49ers.
Right or wrong, Ross expects to have input as the primary financial backer (which is understandable). Philosophically, he doesn't want to give up control to a single individual, instead preferring to have a group of people make decisions collectively. I think Ross & Grier are aligned in that vision which is why Grier hasn't really been challenged. He doesn't talk or act like a GM who's on the hot seat.
I think the Dolphins cleared the table more to acquire extra draft capital to ensure they could move up for the QB they wanted. In the end, nothing was going to be enough for Cincinnati to give up the #1 pick even though I'm sure many came calling for Burrow. We've heard the Dolphins were among several teams that picked up the phone.
I don't think it's fundamentally wrong to pick a QB if you believe he's really THAT good. John Elway went to a rather 'meh' organization and he ended up dragging the Broncos to several Super Bowls before Shanahan ever got there.
The problem is getting over that impulse of thinking you HAVE to draft one particular QB. Falling in love is typically the mistake. You have to trust that if you don't pick someone this year, you'll be able to come back and get someone else the next year. At the GM-level you can't be chasing players or falling in love. It's got to be a long-term project and you have to be okay with talent going to other teams if it's not in line with your plan.
I honestly don't think the Dolphins have any sort of plan though. They've continuously failed to find alignment among their key decision-makers and they're without any kind of real identity even today. They've continuously alienated the more veteran coaches including Parcells, Gailey and Fangio. They've had some real culture issues as well ranging from bully-gate to players not getting along with coaches to the whole blow-up with Flores.
Too often, Miami finds itself parting ways with people on explicitly bad terms and when that sort of thing happens over and over it's a disturbing trend.
