How Hot Is GM Chris Grier's Seat?

Grier has been the Miami Dolphins' general manager since 2016.

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross, right, and Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier chat before the start of another game against Houston Texans during the NFL game at Hard Rock Stadium Sunday in Miami Gardens. / BILL INGRAM /THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK

News of the New York Jets firing their general manager Tuesday certainly can cause any fan to step back and assess the performance of their own team's GM, and so it is with the Miami Dolphins' Chris Grier.

On the job since 2016, though with real personnel control since 2019 after Senior VP Mike Tannenbaum left the organization, Grier often is a target of fans sick and tired of waiting year after year for that elusive playoff victory — we don't need to tell anyone it hasn't happened since the 2000 season.

The Dolphins made the playoffs each of the past two seasons but went out in Round 1, first against the Buffalo Bills and then the Kansas City Chiefs.

So will the time come when owner Stephen Ross decides it's time to go in another direction? Better yet, could that time come after the 2024 season?

The team's outlook certainly looks brighter now than it did two weeks ago. The Dolphins dropped to 2-6 after a hotly contested but still very disappointing loss against the team that has owned the AFC East since Tom Brady took his talents to the west coast of Florida before retiring.

But GM Chris Grier's returning to the playoffs for a third consecutive year remains daunting because of the hole the Dolphins put themselves in. Even a playoff berth would likely again be of the wild-card variety, meaning another road playoff game.

In other words, it doesn't look promising that this will be the year the Dolphins end their playoff win drought.

But, again, what would bring Ross to the point of letting go of Grier, somebody who's been with the organization since that very 2000 season, long before Ross became the owner?

Let's remember that Grier remained GM as the Dolphins transitioned from Adam Gase to Brian Flores as head coach and then to Mike McDaniel. So clearly, Ross is in his corner.

THE DOLPHINS' REBUILD

At some point, though, somebody needs to be held accountable if the massive reconstruction that began in 2019 doesn't produce one single, solitary playoff win.

By basically giving up on that 2019 season, if not tanking, the Dolphins built up a massive supply of draft capital. Then Ross showed his willingness to spend money by okaying trades for big-time players looking for big-time contracts, such as Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, and Jalen Ramsey.

The Dolphins had five picks in the first two rounds of the 2020 draft, followed by four in 2021. With those nine picks, the Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa, Austin Jackson, Noah Igbinoghene, Robert Hunt, Raekwon Davis, Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillips, Jevon Holland and Liam Eichenberg.

There are clearly some good players in that group, but only one has been selected for the Pro Bowl, and that was Tagovailoa last season.

Combined with those nine premium picks, the three stars acquired via trade, not to mention free agents like Terron Armstead, there's only one way to call it a successful rebuild with a playoff win. And we're now five years into it.

Somebody also has to answer for the failure to better prepare for the potential absence of Tagovailoa at any point this season because no matter how well Tua has played in 2024, no matter how tailored the system is to his skill set, a drop-off in QB play that dramatic is unforgivable. So either McDaniel did a poor job adapting the scheme to Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley, or the Dolphins failed to get better at backup quarterback.

All of this will be excused if the Dolphins make a run and make the playoffs in 2024, even more so if they win a playoff game.

But if the Dolphins come up short in both areas, then the possibility of changes will most definitely exist. And it won't be good enough if they wind up, say, one game short of making the playoffs to blame the Tua stint on injured reserve.