The Miami Dolphins 2024 offseason needs is a mirror image of 2023
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins 2024 offseason is here and big moves will need to be made but this offseason is too similar to last year's and that is on Chris Grier.
If you are looking over the needs of the Miami Dolphins as they enter the official start of the 2024 offseason, you may think you are re-watching "Groundhog Day" all over again. This year, the Dolphins managed to do very little to set up a different approach to 2024.
Let's rewind this mess and see what might be different from a year ago if anything.
In 2023, the Dolphins entered the off-season needing to fix the offensive line, fix the TE position, extend Tua Tagovailoa, make a decision on Christian Wilkins, add linebacker depth, add edge-rushing depth, make a decision on Emmanuel Ogbah's contract, and potential fix the cornerback situation.
In 2024, the Dolphins will enter the offseason needing to fix the offensive line, find a better TE option, extend Tua Tagovailoa, make a decision on Christian Wilkins, fix the LB situation, add edge-rushing depth, terminate Ogbah's contract, potentially have to fix the CB situation depending on what they do with Xavien Howard.
Last year the Dolphins entered the off-season needing to figure out the RB unit. They added De'Von Achane and rolled with everyone else. This year, they will probably not add another RB and will roll with what they have.
At WR, the Dolphins needed quality depth players to fit under Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, this year, they will do the same.
What makes all of this sadder is the fact that most of these problems were also problems entering the 2022 offseason as well.
In other words, for those things that Chris Grier gets right, he isn't grasping the requirements of his job. Teams focus on fixing problems not filling the holes in the wall with putty. Grier uses putty. This is the same team that in 2019 imploded the roster in order to rebuild the franchise.
The Dolphins made monumental trades with the 49ers and Texans that set the Dolphins with top-of -the-draft selections and they wasted them. While Chris Grier played the "Magician" the Texans and 49ers fixed what was wrong with their team.
Consider the 49ers made a horrible trade with Miami to draft a QB in round one that is no longer on the team and was replaced by the last pick in the NFL Draft. The 49ers simply went to the Super Bowl and came minutes away from winning it all. The Texans? They trade away a bunch of picks for an LT that is considered one of the best in the league. They still drafted one of the best young QBs in the league and advanced to the playoffs in that QB's rookie season.
Miami is still debating the merits of Tua Tagovailoa.
Miami isn't making the same mistakes year after year, they simply are not addressing them from year to year. Stephen Ross believes Grier can get the team to the Super Bowl but when will he realize that other teams are getting better quicker, cheaper, and solving the issues on their roster while the Dolphins spend money on big names, send draft picks away in expensive trades, and still follow the instructions on the shampoo bottle. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Will Grier get it right this year? History says that he won't. History says that he will throw on a few more patches. History says that he will hand out a massive contract to a question mark at the expense of other positions that need to be addressed.
History. History. History. Stephen Ross won't change the Dolphins uniforms back to the traditional original uniforms that fans love, have a rich history, and add culture to the franchise but instead, he will keep Chris Grier in place, let him run the roster the way he wants, and spend foolishly to add players that probably shouldn't be added.
Yeah, Tyreek Hill was a great trade for Grier. An expensive trade and an expensive contract. The Dolphins have advanced to the playoffs in both his seasons. Guess we can consider that a win.
This is a very negative thought process and it wasn't intended to be when I set out to look at the differences from last year to this year. Then you start to see the same things over and over and over again and you realize that you are not witnessing greatness but instead witnessing the real life play out of "insanity's" definition. You know the one, doing exactly what you did previously but expecting a different outcome.
Maybe this is the year that Chris Grier get's it right. Maybe they fix their problems. Maybe they will re-write their recent history. Or maybe they will just repeat it. Let's hope they learned something from the last couple of years.