Chris Grier's 10 Best Moves | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Chris Grier's 10 Best Moves

SF Dolphin Fan said:
Not quite time to close the book on Chris Grier's career with Miami, as the the 2025 draft picks are still a work in progress and their success is yet to be determined. But here's my attempt at his 10 best moves as the Dolphins GM.

1. Drafting De'Von Achane. Achane is a similar talent to Jahmyr Gibbs, a first round pick of Detroit.
2. Drafting, and then trading Laremy Tunsil for a slew of picks. Ultimately, it fell short of what fans hoped it could bring.
3. Drafting Jaylen Waddle. Waddle has 4,891 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns in five seasons.
4. Drafting Robert Hunt. Not keeping Hunt was the problem.
5. Drafting Xavien Howard. Howard's 29 interceptions are tied for fourth in Miami history.
6. Drafting Christian Wilkins. Wilkins didn't miss a single game in his time with Miami.
7. Signing Aaron Brewer. Brewer has ranked among the top centers in his two years with the Dolphins.
8. Signing Terron Armstead. When healthy, Armstead was an all pro talent at LT.
9. Drafting Andrew Van Ginkel. One of the best fifth round picks in Miami's history (Zach Thomas).
10. Trading for Tyreek Hill. I struggled with this one because ultimately it might have been better not to make the trade in terms of salary cap implications (not being able to keep Hunt, Wilkins etc.) and young talent potentially drafted. But on the field, Hill made Miami's offense almost unstoppable his first two years. Hill has(d) 27 touchdowns and two 1700+ receiving seasons with the Dolphins.

Honorable mention: Patrick Paul, Jaelen Phillips, trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick.
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Pretty good list I'd say. I'd have X at #1 (the only All-Pro Dolphin he ever drafted...in his FIRST draft), and I'd replace Armstead with Minkah (drafting), and Tyreek I'd replace with Big Pat. Minkah was a legit talent that our HC kinda ran out of town, and the Tyreek trade cost a ton of resources and didn't really move the needle. You only make that kind of move when you're one WR away from a ring run (insert belly laugh at Buffalo here). I don't consider 2 one-and-done seasons worth what we gave away for him...particularly when the owner was busy giving picks back to the NFL for giggles...I was praying they'd trade him before he got injured.

But that's just nit-picking. Great idea for a thread and solid list.
 
Grier made more than 10 good moves, so you had to leave out some although you had a honorable mention list. Drafting your best QB - Tua - since Marino is a top move as well. People forget Tua was a decent QB even with Flores then became a top 10 QB with McDaniel - Pro Bowl 1st alternate in 2022 and Pro Bowl starter in 2023 - with a high flying offense. Getting Jordan Brooks was another top move. Come to think of it, Grier got both Brewer and Brooks on 3 year deals for $8M/year in 2024 when we were way over the cap. Getting Sieler is another top move.

Good post.
 
NoblePhin said:
All of his good picks/players he gave away or let them walk.

McDaniel pounded the table for Achane.
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Letting good players leave is a function of the salary cap. That's how numbers work. Not many people were questioning back then when Tua was extended because he was coming off of two great seasons. Same for T. Hill and Waddle extensions. This offseason 49ers let way too many players leave because they wanted to get below the cap. It happens more often and with all teams. If you pay 2-3 players top off the market prices for their positions, you will have to let good players go like R. Hunt and Wilkins who both were overpaid by their new teams at that time but are really good players.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Not quite time to close the book on Chris Grier's career with Miami, as the the 2025 draft picks are still a work in progress and their success is yet to be determined. But here's my attempt at his 10 best moves as the Dolphins GM.

1. Drafting De'Von Achane. Achane is a similar talent to Jahmyr Gibbs, a first round pick of Detroit.
2. Drafting, and then trading Laremy Tunsil for a slew of picks. Ultimately, it fell short of what fans hoped it could bring.
3. Drafting Jaylen Waddle. Waddle has 4,891 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns in five seasons.
4. Drafting Robert Hunt. Not keeping Hunt was the problem.
5. Drafting Xavien Howard. Howard's 29 interceptions are tied for fourth in Miami history.
6. Drafting Christian Wilkins. Wilkins didn't miss a single game in his time with Miami.
7. Signing Aaron Brewer. Brewer has ranked among the top centers in his two years with the Dolphins.
8. Signing Terron Armstead. When healthy, Armstead was an all pro talent at LT.
9. Drafting Andrew Van Ginkel. One of the best fifth round picks in Miami's history (Zach Thomas).
10. Trading for Tyreek Hill. I struggled with this one because ultimately it might have been better not to make the trade in terms of salary cap implications (not being able to keep Hunt, Wilkins etc.) and young talent potentially drafted. But on the field, Hill made Miami's offense almost unstoppable his first two years. Hill has(d) 27 touchdowns and two 1700+ receiving seasons with the Dolphins.

Honorable mention: Patrick Paul, Jaelen Phillips, trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick.
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According to the information we have now. McDaniel was the one beating the table for Achane and wanted to draft him instead of Cam Smith. Grier decided to pick Smith and he got lucky Achane lasted to the 3rd. That’s why Mike looked so dejected when the Cam Smith pick came in.
 
Sure, Grier made the occasional good move, but he made far more bad moves. It seems that his good moves, especially when it comes to the draft, were just him getting lucky rather than him being smart and competent, because he was a real idiot as a GM.

He'd trade up in the draft and then take someone less talented than other players who were available. He was unable to build through the draft and filled too many positions with FAs. Going into his 9th year as GM, only one starting o-lineman was drafted by Grier, and that's pathetic. In 2020 he chose a smaller, broken QB who had to rehab over a bigger, stronger QB, and when that broken QB got to play more in 2021, Grier gave him the worst o-line in the entire league.

He signed an injury-prone LT (Armstead) without having a competent back-up LT on the roster at the time. He finally drafted Paul to replace Armstead at LT, but kept the injury-prone Jackson at RT, even though the RT position should be more important with a QB who throws left-handed. When Williams got hurt, they had to use Eichenberg at Center because Grier had no back-up Center on the active roster.

Basically, Grier has made tons of dumb moves, and anything he did right must have been a lucky accident.
 
DolphinVJ said:
Grier made more than 10 good moves, so you had to leave out some although you had a honorable mention list. Drafting your best QB - Tua - since Marino is a top move as well. People forget Tua was a decent QB even with Flores then became a top 10 QB with McDaniel - Pro Bowl 1st alternate in 2022 and Pro Bowl starter in 2023 - with a high flying offense. Getting Jordan Brooks was another top move. Come to think of it, Grier got both Brewer and Brooks on 3 year deals for $8M/year in 2024 when we were way over the cap. Getting Sieler is another top move.

Good post.
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Yeah, Tua and Brooks should be on the list. Good call.
 
I would rather understand all the misses he had with the abundance of draft picks; free agents compared to the occasional "squirrel finding a nut" every year. How about the shameful huge contracts to oft injured free agents. How about the 20+ years in the organization: the same duration of bad O-lines, weak QB play, revolving coaching carousel, and NO PLAYOFF VICTORIES! Don't forget the countless embarrassing drama, although the owner gets to share in a few of those shenanigans. GOOD RIDDANCE.
 
claytonduper said:
I would rather understand all the misses he had with the abundance of draft picks; free agents compared to the occasional "squirrel finding a nut" every year. How about the shameful huge contracts to oft injured free agents. How about the 20+ years in the organization: the same duration of bad O-lines, weak QB play, revolving coaching carousel, and NO PLAYOFF VICTORIES! Don't forget the countless embarrassing drama, although the owner gets to share in a few of those shenanigans. GOOD RIDDANCE.
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Ok. I feel better.
 
Spiff said:
Xavien Howard was the best player the Dolphins had in a decade or two. If the guy only was a bit more professional, he’s going to Canton.
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Personally I think Howard was over rated. Good player but not great
 
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