Anthony Weaver may or may not be back with the Miami Dolphins for the 2026 season, but he sent the next general manager a message that can't be ignored.
The Dolphins' defensive coordinator clearly isn't happy with the way his unit played this year, or that it took so long to get it together. At a press conference on Tuesday, Weaver delivered his message and, with it, a parting shot at Chris Grier.
"We need these people to be brought together earlier than they were. A lot of the guys we ended up playing with either got here at the start of training camp, were injured in training camp, or missed some of camp. So a lot of the growth we were trying to do as a defense occurred early in the season."Anthony Weaver
Anthony Weaver wasn't happy with the way former Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier built his defensive roster
The Dolphins sat on Jalen Ramsey for months as they waited for a trade offer they wanted to accept. When free agency began, Miami cut starting and injured CB Kendall Fuller. The Dolphins had no one in the secondary with much experience.
That was made worse when Artie Burns went down on the first day of training camp, and then Kader Kohou followed. Where Grier failed was waiting. He played a salary game with Rasul Douglas, for example.
All of this, as Weaver pointed out, was made harder with so many younger players on the team. The Dolphins' offseason plan was to use a strong front seven to mask the issues with the secondary. That plan didn't happen, as they opted to go with Zach Sieler and three rookie defensive tackles.
Naturally, they struggled early and often. The outside linebackers and defensive ends were not getting to the quarterback the way Miami had hoped, leaving the boundary corners without help.
The turnaround came with Rasul Douglas, who has played fantastically all year long, and Jack Jones was brought in to be the outside corners. Both of them were brought in after training camp was over.
Regardless of whether Weaver remains, the message is a strong one. You can't build continuity when the players are not on the roster. Grier's approach was not good, given the glaring holes in the secondary. His idea that Cam Smith and Storm Duck could both solve the issues was horribly wrong.