Detroit Lions Hire Recently Fired Dolphins General Manager

The Detroit Lions have added another personnel executive to their front office.

On Wednesday, reports indicated that the Lions have hired former Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier. Reports did not immediately specify what his exact title will be with the Lions.

Grier had been with the Dolphins organization since 2000, and was the team's general manager since 2016 before the team parted ways with him in October. Miami had five winning seasons under Grier's leadership, but ultimately it didn't work out.

"Grier was fired on Halloween, the day after the Dolphins' 28-6 Thursday night loss against the Baltimore Ravens left them with a 2-7 record," Dolphins OnSI's Alain Poupart told Lions OnSI. "And the news was met with a lot of joy from a large segment of Miami fans who blamed Grier for the team coming up short year after year."

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With Grier now in the fold, the Lions have two ex-NFL general managers in him and John Dorsey, who who has served as the general manager of both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Browns.

Before becoming the Dolphins' general manager, Grier began his career with the New England Patriots as a scout. He would join the Dolphins as a scout in 2000, and became the assistant director of college scouting in 2003, then the director of college scouting in 2007.

Grier would hold that role until 2015, as he became the general manager in 2016 though he spent time working under Mike Tannenbaum as the Vice President of Football Operations until 2019.

The Dolphins looked to be in position to build a strong future as of late, but adversity derailed the progress they were looking to make. Tua Tagovailoa never quite materialized into a franchise quarterback, and Hill suffered an unfortunate injury that ended his season early last year.

Miami was forced to make a series of cap casualty cuts this offseason, as moves that Grier had made simply didn't pan out.

"The Dolphins find themselves in a rebuilding mode because of bold moves that ultimately backfired or didn't work out as well as hoped, highlighted (or lowlighted) by the contract extensions for Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Jalen Ramsey," Poupart added. "Grier does have a lot of NFL experience and he's got the pedigree, his father Bobby being a longtime NFL executive."

The Lions' front office had one member interview for an external general manager job in Ray Agnew, who is the assistant GM under Holmes. However, Agnew did not get the job as Minnesota elected to hire Nolan Teasley.

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