After meeting with the media for the last time ahead of the 2025 season, Chris Grier sounded more like a general manager entering a critical offseason with the Miami Dolphins despite being safe.
Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel, who will both return in 2025, held one of the weirdest press conferences in Dolphins history earlier this week. Throughout the media session, they made a lot of excuses and pointed fingers, but no players were singled out for the team's dismal 2024 season.
Grier spoke about the biggest blunder they made in 2024 without calling it such, and he also discussed the need to find a suitable backup quarterback. We can't say they were lying because we don't know what happens behind closed doors, but when something smells like fish, it tends to be fish.
Listening to Grier answer a question about his evaluation of the backup quarterback position and his approach this offseason brings more questions than answers and doesn't get you excited about 2025.
Recent comments from Miami Dolphins GM Chris Grier don't provide much excitement
Chris Grier's comments about Skylar Thompson make it seem like he was the Dolphins' QB2 plan for 2024 all along
Grier cited Thompson's playoff game against the Buffalo Bills and him beating the New York Jets to get to the playoffs in 2022. He said Miami was excited about his growth and how he won the backup job in preseason.
Thompson beat Mike White for the Dolphins backup role behind Tua Tagovailoa, but it wasn't much of a competition as both quarterbacks played badly.
Grier didn't come out and say that Thompson or Tyler Huntley would be replaced this offseason but it is part of an every-year evaluation. The reality was Thompson and White were the only quarterbacks behind Tagovailoa on the roster entering training camp last summer and that was the plan.
Chris Grier claims the Dolphins tried to land "topflight" backups ahead of the 2024 season
While talking about how they felt regarding Thompson, Grier said they were trying to get better at the position, but they lost out on "topflight" backups.
"We were in on a number of topflight backup quarterbacks in the league. We were runner-ups for a couple of them that we wanted to get here, and for some financial restraints and compensatory pick stuff, we just couldn’t go to those, to the prices."
If we are to believe what he said, the Dolphins opted not to mess up their comp pick potential, and they couldn't get the prices right for a contract.
Miami had money to spend last year but gave chunks to cornerback Jalen Ramsey and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Each got more money but not extensions. The Dolphins could have allocated that money to a "topflight" backup instead.
Chris Grier was happy those quarterbacks wanted to come to Miami
The Dolphins GM said, "All of those players wanted to be here," yet none of them wanted to be with Miami for the money the team was offering.
We may be reading more into this, but if interest is tied to monetary numbers, that isn't really "wanting" to be anywhere. He further said, "Some of those guys were willing to come here at what we could pay them, [which] shows in how they believe in Mike [McDaniel]."
This makes you wonder why they didn't come here then. If a better backup option was willing to take the money the Dolphins were offering, why didn't they sign them?
Miami ran it back with Thompson and White, and by the time Tagovailoa went down, they had to scour practice squads and free agents like Tim Boyle, who didn't last long.
Chris Grier wants you to believe QB2 is a priority for the Miami Dolphins this offseason
"That’s a position we will always focus on, and it will be a position that we will focus on this offseason. I will tell you that every stone will be unturned at that position including the draft.”
This is a pretty bold statement by the GM, but it doesn't come with much weight. Grier is saying Miami will consider using draft capital to find a quarterback, which means a guy they need to develop.
They couldn't do that with Thompson after three seasons. It would be surprising if the Dolphins used a Day 2 selection on a quarterback, especially after not wanting to upset the balance of the compensatory draft picks.
If Miami uses a draft pick on a young passer, it would likely be a Day 3 selection at best. In other words, another Thompson-type. The Dolphins could look to free agency this offseason, but that doesn't make sense either.
While Grier said Miami would see "every stone unturned," the reality is quite different. Dolphins fans need to be concerned about this. Last year, Miami missed out on adding "topflight" backups, according to Grier, because of money. Yet the Dolphins will enter the 2025 offseason with far less cap space and more holes on the roster.
Grier said all the right things. He talked about the concerns the media had brought up, and fans have been talking about all year, even heading into the offseason in 2024. His comments, however, seemed to be more about giving them what they wanted to hear rather than what needs to be done.
How the Dolphins find the money to invest in better options at quarterback is only part of the problem. Miami still has to identify potential additions from what will likely be a thin market, which in turn will drive up the prices.
Miami can't enter the 2025 season with Huntley and Thompson as their backups again and they can't rely on Tagovailoa to stay healthy next year. The Dolphins quarterback situation is a mess, and while Grier says they are going to fix it, no one believes they can.