The Miami Dolphins should not be allowed to hold press conferences. Sometimes, it's best to stay quiet.
On Tuesday, Dolphins general manager Chris Grier met with the press, and he probably could have skipped the entire thing to save some agony.
Grier opened his statements by talking about the current Jalen Ramsey trade situation. Then it seemed as though he wanted to go into more about the team, but opted to hand over the press conference to the media for questions instead.
Grier touched slightly on the upcoming NFL Draft and made a few comments about free agency. He also shared the fact that Miami likes the roster they have right now and believes they can compete.
But one reporter threw him a softball question regarding the loss of multiple Dolphins leaders this offseason, like Calais Campbell, Terron Armstead, and possibly Ramsey. It should have been an easy home run opportunity for Grier. Instead, he struck out badly.
Grier stammered through the question early. He said Miami has leaders on its current roster. But after skipping through the first part and mentioning the "quality human beings" they have added this year (who were leaders on other teams), he managed to say, "I do think in-house, Zach Sieler - just to name a few - you can say Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Alec Ingold, [and] Austin Jackson."
The problem is that he apparently isn't keeping up on the leadership qualities of Hill at all. Hill shouldn't even have his name mentioned after walking off the field in Week 18 and finding himself in the middle of more off-the-field trouble recently.
Also, Alec Ingold? A guy who is in on only a few snaps per game?
Who did Grier not mention in answer? Well, there was zero mention of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who Miami gave a massive contract to last year.
Chris Grier doesn't mention Tua Tagovailo when he spoke about team leadership.
Maybe it's time to admit the Dolphins' mistake and move Tagovailoa to a team that might actually want him. We know of at least one that would be willing to take him.
This Dolphins organization is a mess. Grier is way in over his head, Mike McDaniel is still making the same mistakes he made as a rookie head coach, and owner Stephen Ross is still finding more and more ways to make excuses for the team's failure at a rebuild.
Not to mention, Miami's quarterback is not a simple oversight. Tagovailoa should have been the first player mentioned in Grier's answer about the team's leaders.
But the fact that the only player he mentioned who actually stands out as a leader is Sieler suggests that the Dolphins have big problems and are probably not going to fill the leadership holes they have.