Tuesday, April 16, 2024
General Manager Chris Grier
(Opening Statement) – “Good to see you guys back. It’s always an exciting time of year kicking off with the players back in the building. First of all, good luck to the Heat in their play-in game and to the Panthers in the playoffs, an exciting time again for South Florida.”
(As you look at your roster at this point, do you believe you need a starting-caliber player to replace DT Christian Wilkins in his spot? Or do you feel you have enough with DT Neville Gallimore and DT Jonathan Harris? Is DT Teair Tart in that mix or do you see him more as a nose?) – “Yeah, I think the exciting thing is working with (defensive coordinator) Anthony Weaver. His vision and obviously his work and what he’s done in the league as a player and a coach and (defensive line coach) Austin Clark as well, so very excited about that group. Having Zach (Sieler) back, of course, after coming off a historic year for a Dolphin d-tackle as well, we’re very excited. But the group we have were targeted players, really liked their potential and what they can be. We feel good about the group. These guys, we were talking about them today. They’ve been in working hard already and it’s a really good group. Starting to see that bond come together with that group and they’re all competing hard. So with the roster, it’s not a priority, but it’s obviously any player that we can add that helps our roster and is a good impact player, we’ll take. It doesn’t matter what position.”
(With DT Teair Tart, is he a nose do you think? Or can he play…) – “I think we’ll work through the spring and see how he fits in what we’re doing. And I would leave that for Anthony (Weaver) to answer, too, instead of me just assuming. (laughter)”
(Is signing seven sort of an indicator that you don’t like what’s available in the draft from that position?) – “No, not necessarily. I think it was more just the availability and for us, people wanted to come play here. They’ve looked at what Austin (Clark) and Anthony (Weaver) have done in their careers as coaches, so they’re excited for the opportunity to come play for these guys and learn and compete. They know nothing has been promised to any of them, and that’s the exciting part. They all know they’re coming in to compete. I just think it was the opportunity to add guys that we thought are quality players that had good upsides.”
(LB Jaelan Phillips suggested on television over the weekend that Week 1 is his plan. Where does he stand? Where does LB Bradley Chubb stand? With where they are in their rehab, does that impact maybe how you go in Round 1? If you feel if both of these guys you’ll have for 17 weeks, pass rush might not be as big of a concern. Is that in the calculation?) – “Well Dr. Phillips, I don’t want to speak for him. (laughter) But no, it’s been fun watching those guys. They’ve been rehabbing like crazy. And you guys know them, they’re kind of maniacal with just how they attack it. I don’t put any timelines or pressure on it. Our doctors have done a great job working with them and working through the process. Any timelines I wouldn’t feel comfortable with until we get to training camp and we can give you guys more information then. But in terms of the roster, again, it’s always the best player available as we’ve talked about over the years. So whatever position that is that can impact us in Round 1, if we have that pick, we’ll be excited to add them.”
(Up and down this roster, you have flexibility with o-line that can play inside-outside, cornerbacks that can do the same, box and post safeties. How does that versatility help your draft day strategy to find the best player that could also fit a team need?) – “Yeah, I think talking about players – obviously, you’ve seen here the last couple years with some of the injuries we’ve had late in the season, the versatility of players is key. So guys that can play all along the offensive line or in the secondary, move around, that’s really important for depth and building a team. It helps. We’re always looking for those players that can do more things, because I just think it helps your roster. So for us, we’ll always keep looking for players that can do more.”
(How would you describe the likelihood or unlikelihood, I think I know the answer, but I want to ask because fans want the answer to this question, of selecting a quarterback in the first round?) – “I think – listen, we always look at every position. I would say that’s not somewhere I’m looking at in the first round. It’s not a position that we’ve even talked about. There are some good players, but we’re very happy with Tua (Tagovailoa) and where he is with us. At some point I wouldn’t say we’re not going to draft a quarterback at any point. We took Skylar (Thompson) here in the seventh round years ago. You always look at opportunities for where you can add depth in your roster, so I just think that goes across the board for any position.”
(I have a best player available question if you can expound on it, please. How does that rule apply? Is that only the first round or is it every single pick? And if that’s how you do your draft, then is free agency when you fill your needs?) – “I think the best player available, and again this is probably going back from years when I started to learn under Coach (Bill) Parcells years ago and going through Coach (Pete) Carroll, Nick Saban and stuff. You always stack your board and you work hard, but your board, obviously early in the draft, will always look kind of how you set it in terms of best player. But when you get into Day Three, the board is being picked apart, flying all over the place. (laughter) So it’s one of those, and I think sometimes when you get late in the draft, you end up looking for depth or filling holes in your roster. But for the most part, I think most teams would be early in the draft, you’re always going to take the best player available for the first couple rounds, because that’s where you probably have the most control of how your board looks in terms of how you spent all the offseason ranking in terms of all your time with the coaching staff and scouts to build it.”
(And so filling needs, that’s mostly free agency?) – “Yeah, it’s part of it, but it still goes post-draft too. There are still good players that are available that are veterans that are on the streets post-draft, too. But yeah, you’ll always get into that end of the draft where people are like, ‘Hey, if there’s a position where there are maybe not a few players, it’s light at that position and you don’t want to compete,’ you go, ‘If we like the traits in that player, we’ll draft them and add them to the roster then.’ It’s always interesting, the end of the draft process when you get to it, because you’re looking at your boards and it’s usually picked apart and no one has players left. (laughter) It’s really just looking at the depth there of where it is and where you need to fill, then you make your decisions there.”
(When you decide to trade up or trade down, about how far in advance do you make that decision? Is it when you’re on the clock? Is it when you have two, three picks remaining until you’re on the clock? Or how does that process work?) – “Yeah, some of those conversations are happening now where teams call and say, ‘Hey, would you be willing to move down or move up?’ So for the most part, if a deal is too good to pass up, you pull the trigger now, because you never know when those opportunities come and go. But usually most of them are on draft day, because people want to see if the players they’re interested in are still there. If someone has specifically targeted one or two players, and again, it could also go at the depth of that position. There may be two players at a position they like in the first round, one is gone so a team wants to come up and get them. So for the most part to your question, it’s draft day, but we’ve had discussions with teams about moving up and down and calling us so it’s been a typical draft pre-week.”
(Considering where you are picking in the first round and the lack of a third and a fourth, would you be more inclined than usual to look to trade down in the first round?) – “Yeah, I think we’re open to everything, but also you don’t want to pass on a good player. If there is someone there that we all feel very strongly about that can really impact our roster, it’s like how far can you drop down and still possibly get him. (laughter) You always weigh those factors of yeah, it’s great to pick up an extra third, but if that second-round player is someone we believe in like a Jevon Holland or Jarvis Landry in the second round, then you’ll take the player.”
(How is Head Coach Mike McDaniel reacting to finally having a first-round pick?) – “He has been out of his mind, because now he’s recommending everybody to me. (laughter) But it’s been fun. He and I have been watching a lot of players, talking, great communication. So it’s been fun. I think he’s very excited to add a good player, as we all are.”
(On LB Jaelan Phillips, have you made a decision on the fifth-year option for him in particular with the injury, and I guess WR Jaylen Waddle as well?) – “We’re getting to that point. I would say we’ll end up picking it up on them, I’m comfortable saying that. There is no reason for me to sit here and lie to you guys and hide it, but yes.”
(That’s on both LB Jaelan Phillips and WR Jaylen Waddle?) – “Yes.”
(At No. 21, it’s kind of an in-between pick maybe a little bit that you hope there’s a run on maybe quarterback that might push some guys down. How many players would you feel comfortable taking at 21 that are on your board right now?) – “I think we definitely feel there will be one or two players that we really like there is where we are right now. We feel that we can get an impact player there that will help our team and roster, and we’d be very excited to add. We’ve gone through it a few times. We’ll keep going through it here. We feel good about who would be there at No. 21 if we were to pick there.”
(So it’s fair to say you have at least 21 first-round grades?) – “As of right now, we do not have 21 first-round grades. But we feel that again, when teams are building for their roster, teams are looking at different things. You talk to every team, and they’re usually in that 15 to 20 range on players, but it varies from team to team on what everyone is looking for.”
(S Jevon Holland doesn’t have that fifth-year option. How much does that, him being a second-round pick, accelerate the urgency to get an extension done with him sooner rather than later?) – “Jevon (Holland) is a big piece here, and we’ll spend some time talking with him. Excited for him to just get healthy and have a good year here. He is an important piece, I love him. My kids love watching the anime stuff on Twitter that he talks about all the time. (laughter) He’s an important piece and we’ll be talking with him here in the future.”
(Have there been any talks, especially now with the WR DeVonta Smith contract in place, any talks at all regarding the WR Jaylen Waddle extension?) – “Like I’ve always been, we don’t really talk publicly about things like that. We’re aware of it. We are in a good spot with those guys, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
(It’s a pretty loaded tackle class. How do you split the hairs with I think there is six potential first round picks? Is it what flavor of gum you like? How does it work?) – “I think again, it goes all to the systems, too. You guys have watched how we play the offensive line – some guys are great fits for it, some are OK fits for it. As you kind of go through it, again that’s where you talk about the number of picks in the first round by team will vary. There’s some good players that we do like, and there’s other ones we feel will be good players and they are not ideal scheme fits, but they can play in the scheme. For us, we have more than enough guys we feel good about that can help us.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel confirmed to us that an offer was made to WR Odell Beckham Jr. a while ago. Are those talks on going, or does it appear unlikely that you all will be able to reach terms?) – “Nothing imminent on it. It’s been – we’ve had some discussions back and forth a little bit, but as of right now, there is nothing in the works to get anything done.”
(This is your 25th year going through this process. What excites you the most this go around?) – “The draft is always a fun time when you when you go through it in the offseason, because you’re always trying to see how you can help your roster going into a season where every year there’s always change. I enjoy this part of the year. I enjoy working with the coaches, the scouts, and just sitting talking ball, because it’s the purest part of just talking football and players and people. So that’s what I enjoy about it, and now that the players are back in the building, I’m very excited for this upcoming season. It was good to see a bunch of guys out there running and getting going.”
(When you think back over all the drafts that you’ve presided over, there have been some guys that you’ve picked who maybe didn’t get a whole lot of attention leading into the draft. Is there one guy, can you pinpoint one guy that you say to yourself, “I’m really proud that I found this guy?”) – “That’s hard. Obviously, most recently would probably be De’Von (Achane) last year. Achane was a guy that we were very high on and spent a lot of time getting to know him. I’d say in the past, probably Andrew Van Ginkel was one because he was kind of a – transferred into Wisconsin and had a little bit of production and just watched him grow as a person and play over the last few years. Very happy for him. Sad to see him go, but very happy for him. But there’s been a number of guys over the years. You go through it and you just talk about – Xavien (Howard) was one, too. Xavien was always a guy that was talented and he would tell you, we interviewed him at the Combine and it was a terrible interview. He would tell you that and then we brought him in on a 30 visit and he was lights out. Like knew all the players, everything, talking history of Dolphins stuff. So it was cool and then watching the evolution of him where his rookie year he played and got criticized a little bit for some of his play as a rookie and then becoming an All-Pro. So it was fun watching his growth and the number of things he did behind the scenes that when he came by to see me probably a month or so ago, we had a long talk about just everything he did behind the scenes. I’m so proud of him, how he worked so hard to get to where he was, so those are always satisfying moments to watch when players get what they’ve worked hard for.”
(Regarding T Terron Armstead from where we sit now, you have to think this might be his last season. Do you start planning for that in the draft or how do you handle that?) – “I think you’re always looking at your roster. You’re always trying to take a two-year look into the future, what it could be. We always knew that possibility could be with him. We’re very respectful of his time and to his credit, he is an incredible communicator. I’ve gotten to know him over the last couple years – he is a fantastic person. So I’m very glad he is coming back, because he has impacted that room so much with those young guys and helped Austin (Jackson) and all those guys grow and Liam (Eichenberg), so having him back is important. But you always look at every position when you kind of go through it and try and look and try and anticipate what some of the issues could be in the future.”
(I think it’s been about six weeks since we got you at the Combine. Just seeing an update on the QB Tua Tagovailoa contract situation? Has there been progress? Do you feel Week 1 is a hard deadline for this to happen or is this something that when it happens, it happens?) – “I think it’s something that when it happens, it happens. We’ve had communication with him and I’ll just leave those between the organization and his representation, and it’s been good so we’ll just keep working towards it. Him and his agent are very understanding that this is now the draft, so he’s letting us focus on that and then we’ll turn our attention to that after the draft finishes.”
(QB Tua Tagovailoa’s decision to start working with a private quarterback coach in the offseason, how involved were you and the team with that process?) – “No, you’ve got to give him all the credit. He is just like last offseason when he attacked to stay healthy and doing the jiujitsu or judo, whichever one, but he’s just – watching him work and how he wants to be great. He took all this stuff on his own and told us what he was going to do, so you’ve got to give him all the credit on that.”
(I guess following up, obviously last year he was coming in, wanted to gain some weight. His build, this year he’s kind of trimmed up a little bit. Had you guys given him any idea of where you wanted to see him as far as his build and his weight?) – “No, I think this again is to his credit. He’s trying to do everything he can to do what he can to be great. And that’s been from Day 1 when Mike (McDaniel) and him connected here, working through the first season and then making the changes offseason, working through last year, staying healthy, leading the league in passing and now this is his next evolution. As Mike has told you guys, we feel like there is a whole other step that he can take, so we’re excited about his future.”
(I wanted to ask you about Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver in terms of this scheme, what he wants run. You’ve been here with so many defensive schemes, so many different fronts. Do you have a full understanding of what he specifically is looking for?) – “Yeah, he’s been very clear which is great. He communicates well, and he’s had great examples of the types of players he’s been looking for, so it’s been fun working with him. I think our scouts and even the coaches, it’s been pretty seamless in terms of making those adjustments. Even if there has been some division on some of the college guys, just what he’s looking for, what we see and just incorporating why. So we have a pretty good idea. I mean, you guys – probably a little bit of some of the Baltimore stuff, but he’s also got some things I think he wants to implement on his own. I’ll let him talk about all that stuff and go through it as you guys meet with him throughout the spring and summer.”
(What’s that process like – for instance, we know Head Coach Mike McDaniel is obsessed with speed, that obviously is something that you have to adapt to – but what’s that process like, always having to adapt to what a new coach or a new defensive coordinator wants?) – “It can be challenging at times, but again, it’s part of the job and the business. I think the most important thing is trying to get everyone on the same page as soon as possible, so you can adjust through that offseason for the free agency and through the draft. I think having clear communication and having some idea of what they’ve done in the past helps, but I think a lot of it goes to the coaches. Like Anthony (Weaver) deserves a lot of credit for coming in here, being so prepared and having everything ready with visuals and everything for us to go through so that he made that transition a lot easier for everyone.”
(I guess in terms of positional value, I kind of always heard like, quarterback, protecting the quarterback, rushing the quarterback. But then you see receiver position guys getting $25 or $30 million. Have you seen the league change in terms of how you view positional value and which are the most significant?) – “Yeah, I think we’ve all seen it. I think from everywhere from defensive tackles to wide receivers, obviously the quarterback position. I think now it’s become more of a league of whoever your good players are, are going to be pushing to get that amount of money. I think it’s exciting for the players. I think the one thing it shows is that teams will do that and take care of people. It’s just – with a salary cap league, to me and this is my opinion, it was like an unprecedented year of change for rosters throughout the offseason. I hadn’t really seen a year like that in a long time where people were forced to make changes, but it’s exciting and I think it’s good for the players that they can get – now it’s not just the quarterbacks or left tackles. I think being able to spread it out and helping the team for the players that work hard and make this game great, I think it’s exciting for the NFL and I think that’s why people love the NFL.”
