Did the Miami Dolphins and Chris Grier drop the ball by not trading for Ezra Cleveland?

Miami Dolphins G.M., Chris Grier has taken a lot of flack over the years specifically for how he has handled the offensive line. On Tuesday, he could have given the front a big boost.

Ezra Cleveland was traded by the Vikings to the Jaguars. His contract this year is minimal. Cleveland is on the right side of 30 and is one of the brighter linemen in the league and while he has some areas to improve at, he is a guy that the Dolphins should have jumped on.

Instead, they watched the Jaguars, another AFC contending team snatch him up to provide more depth to their already decent Oline.

The Jaguars traded a 6th round pick for Cleveland. Alone, that would be a good trade for anyone but the 6th round selection is actually a 2025 selection and not 2024. That is a steal.

Cleveland will be a free agent after the season but that shouldn't have stopped Mr. One-Year deal from making a trade. He isn't going to find a better lineman in the 6th round of the draft that can help his team win now.

Miami's offensive line is a mess. Robert Hunt is banged up, Isaiah Wynn is out at least three more weeks, and Terron Armstead is coming back but we all know he will end the season back on IR.

Miami instead believes Lester Cotton and Liam Eichenberg are good enough. This is despite the Dolphins running game slowing down over the last couple of weeks.

So did they drop the ball on this one? On the surface, yes. Cleveland provides young quality depth with experience and it would have been a minimal risk should the Dolphins not be able to retain him after the season.

If the Dolphins were truly all-in on 2023 as some speculate, then not trying to add him makes little sense but then again, we don't always see what Grier sees and that is probably the case here once again.