Dolphins Roster Focus Should Move to Free Agency
General Manager Chris Grier has made more trades during his stint running the Miami Dolphins than any other executive in the NFL, and plenty of those trades have used draft picks as currency.
He's fond of those trade discussions.
That’s why the 2023 draft, which featured Miami owning just four picks, two of which were used on Friday to select South Carolina cornerback Cam Smith and Texas A&M tailback Devon Achane, has been described by Grier as a snooze fest.
“(Thursday night) was a complete bore, snore," Grier said Friday at the conclusion of Day 2. "We got no calls. It was awful."
Miami had plenty of offers to move out of pick No. 51 in the second round, and pick No. 84 in the third, but the Dolphins stuck to their draft board, selecting their top-rated players available, and as a result avoided making a need-based selection.
When asked about the offensive line and tight end position needs Friday night, Grier stressed that the media and fans are more concerned about Miami’s talent at those positions than the team’s decision-makers. He also pointed out that the franchise is still having discussions with veteran free agents.
THE DOLPHINS' MOVES AT POSITION OF NEED
Miami extended tight end Durham Smythe’s contract earlier this month, which is the equivalent of a vote of confidence, and signed Eric Saubert in the offseason, reuniting the veteran tight end with offensive coordinator Frank Smith, who was his position coach with the Raiders. The Dolphins also have a high opinion of Tanner Conner, an undrafted receiver Miami converted to tight end last season and kept on the 53-man roster all year.
Grier consistently has expressed confidence that Liam Eichenberg and Austin Jackson, two of his early draftees, will improve as starting offensive linemen. We’ll see if that happens, but it hasn’t stopped Miami from shopping for reinforcements.
This week Miami hosted veteran offensive lineman Cam Fleming on a free agent visit, and Taylor Lewan claims the Dolphins recently have reached out to the former Pro Bowl tackle to gauge his interest in joining the team.
“It doesn’t end with the draft,” Grier said about overhauling Miami’s roster. “There are guys we’re talking to in free agency, on the streets. We’re still working through it and will keep adding the players that work for us.”
Head coach Mike McDaniel's infatuation in Achane hints that the Dolphins could be comfortable with where they are at the tailback position after re-signing four free agents, and using one of Miami's two premium picks to select Achane.
That likely means that Miami's interest in trading for a tailback like Derrick Henry, Dalvin Cook and D'Andre Swift has faded, at least for now.
The Dolphins will have $13.6 million in cap space available on June 1 when former cornerback Byron Jones’ contract comes off the team’s books, and that’s likely when Miami will begin the third round of free agent shopping.
“Sometimes you have depth more in other places than not, but we’re not going to take away the opportunity to have good players on our team,” head coach Mike McDaniel said. “If we have the opportunity to get a good player, we’re not going to turn that down.”
Grier warned that Miami likely wouldn't be active on the third day of the draft because of how low (197 in the sixth and 238 in the seventh) the team’s picks are.
WILSON ON THE MOVE?
He admitted an unwillingness to give up future picks to acquire more day three selections. But the team has been listening to offers for receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., and don’t be surprised if last year’s free agent addition is moved during the draft.
Grier said teams have been calling the Dolphins about Wilson since Miami added Chosen Anderson, and the team was committed to "do right by him," possibly finding Wilson a good landing spot.
When the draft concludes Saturday, expect the Dolphins to be aggressive when it comes to signing undrafted rookie free agents, courting the top players who don’t get selected by offering them and their agents substantial signing bonuses, and guaranteeing a significant amount of a player’s first-year salary.
That’s how the Dolphins ended up with Davone Bess, Chris McCain, Neville Hewitt, Jonathan Freeny, Jordan Kovacs, A.J. Francis, Preston Williams, Nik Needham, Robert Jones and Kadar Kadou over the years, and finding those kinds of undrafted gems will be critical to this franchise’s success the next two seasons as the salary cap gets challenged by eight massive contracts that eat up $187 million in cap space next season.
