1 day Ago By Mike Oliva
I know there is a CBS Sports report out by Jonathan Jones that there are rumblings that Chris Grier may retire and go into a Senior Advisor role with the Miami Dolphins , but I find that unlikely to happen, to be honest. So, with the Miami Dolphins heading into their final regular season game of the season, and most likely their final game of the season, the organization will begin their offseason plans on Monday. As we have said on numerous DolphinsTalk Podcasts and from numerous reports from the local South Florida media, do not expect Stephen Ross to make a change as head coach or general manager.
Let’s focus on the general manager here for a minute. If there is one topic that 99.9% of Miami Dolphins fans can agree on, it is that Chris Grier should probably be relieved of his duties, and a fresh set of eyes and a new vision should lead the organization.
He has yet to build a team that has won the division or a playoff game; with Tua Tagovailoa ‘s latest injury and the potential long-term effect it may have on his play and mobility, you can make a case he screwed up that selection, and he is on his third head coach during his time as the general manager as none of them really has worked out. With all of that said, Stephen Ross seems to love Grier and doesn’t want to move on from him. So, what would it take for Ross to move on from Grier? Mike McDaniel would need to intervene, in my opinion, and in prison terms, put the shiv into Grier to get Grier removed.
It was reported in 2023 that McDaniel wanted De’Von Achane in Rd 2 of the draft, but Grier told him no and drafted Cam Smith . Now, he did get Achane in Rd 3 for McDaniel, but Grier put up the stop sign to McDaniel and didn’t cave to his wishes. In August, when Tua was holding out of the early days of training camp because he didn’t have a long-term contract, Mike McDaniel went over Chris Grier’s head and called Stephen Ross on the phone to get the Tua deal done within hours.
Thus, Tua was a full participant at training camp the next day. Chris Grier couldn’t close that deal; it took McDaniel going around the general manager to make it happen. Over the past two seasons, there have been other rumblings that not everything between McDaniel and Grier is sunshine and rainbows.
We know Stephen Ross loves Chris Grier, and Ross sided with Grier when the whole situation blew up with Brian Flores a few years back. This time around, I am not so sure Ross would side with Grier if a head coach went to him and said he couldn’t work with the general manager. Grier will be 55 years old in a couple of months; even if the CBS report of him retiring doesn’t happen, it sounds like he is considering it.
McDaniel is only 41 and has a longer NFL career in front of him than Grier at this point. As an owner, who would you hitch your wagon to at this moment? A GM who has been here 20+ years and a GM for 6 years who has failed to bring you a winner who is contemplating retirement or the young head coach who is the belle of the ball who, yes, still has room to grow but generally is revered in NFL circles? So, that leaves the question: Does Mike McDaniel have the courage to make that call? Does he have the courage to put the shiv in Grier to get him out of the way? Honestly, I don’t know. It has happened in the NFL—heck, it happens all the time—but we don’t hear about it very often.
When a coach or a general manager has their back up against the wall, they will do drastic things to save their ass. And while McDaniel is safe in his job now, he will enter the 2025 season on the hot seat. I know many Dolphins fans want Chris Grier gone, and honestly, I don’t think it will happen.
Unless Mike McDaniel feels he needs someone else as his general manager who will work with him more, have his back, give him everything he wants, and never tell him no. If that is the case, McDaniel may make another call to Stephen Ross and force Grier out of Miami. Bears doing “Serious Homework” on Anthony Weaver as Possible Next Head Coach.
