Dolphins top 20 2016 moves: number 13

The Miami Dolphins have had their share of off-season problems in the past but 2016 was a little different.

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Heading into the 2016 off-season change was inevitable. The only question was when would it start? Over the next 20 days we will list the top 20 off-season moves that the Dolphins made. Whether those moves were good or bad remains as an unknown impact.

Number 13: Releasing Brent Grimes

The Dolphins entered the off-season needing to upgrade one of their cornerback positions. The one opposite Brent Grimes. Despite showing signs of diminishing skills in 2015, Grimes was expected to be a major player in the Dolphins secondary in 2016.

The Dolphins trade for Byron Maxwell seemed to imply that they had found the player to play opposite Grimes but off the field and behind closed doors events were beginning to unfold that played out publicly thanks fully to Brent’s wife, Miko.

The Dolphins wanted to reduce the almost $8 million cap number Grimes was scheduled to make in 2016. The Dolphins initially wanted to keep Grimes at a reduced number but his wife took to social media and blasted several members of the team and it’s management executives.

The entire social media play began to eat away at the Dolphins internally as well as their desire to keep Grimes who suddenly became expendable with the trade of Maxwell. Despite the fact that the Maxwell deal was not finalized, Grimes was on his way out of Miami.

With his departure and the addition of Maxwell, the Dolphins took on a larger contract with Maxwell and still left a hole on the other side at cornerback. A spot that currently is undergoing competition in training camp with no clear winner as of yet.

The loss of Grimes has yet to truly hurt the team and in the end, it likely won’t. Grimes’ career is no longer on the rise and the Dolphins managed to get solid Pro-Bowl years from a player who was jettisoned by the Falcons due to injury. Grimes was a rare victory for the Dolphins front office both with signing him and releasing him at the right time.