Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel calls the plays. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa throws the passes. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill catches those passes. Soon-to-be defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will run the defense.
But Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs reminds us of one NFL truth: the general manager, without a doubt, is the MVP (Most Valuable Person) in the organization.
In the Dolphins’ case that means general manager Chris Grier is more valuable than McDaniel, Tagovailoa, Hill or Fangio.
Howie Roseman lived up to that in Philadelphia.
Brett Veach lived up to that in Kansas City.
Both of those GMs have already won a title, and now they have their teams in the Super Bowl again.
Perhaps the biggest gamble of either team was Veach’s decision to trade Hill, one of the NFL’s most dynamic receivers, to the Dolphins last offseason. The move paid huge dividends as re-signing him to a massive long-term deal would have created salary cap problems for years to come. In return, Kansas City stockpiled much-needed draft picks to help revamp an aging roster that reached the Super Bowl nonetheless.
The general manager is the MVP because he accrues the talent whether it’s by draft, trade, free agency or any other method (though hopefully not a clandestine meeting on a private yacht), while maintaining financial flexibility (a la Bill Belichick).
No coach wins without talent. No team wins without talent.
The league is based on collecting talent, and the general manager is in charge of talent acquisition.
Grier has a short window to get talent with this crop of players.
Even though the Dolphins are roughly $22 million over the projected $224.8 million salary cap for 2023, Grier says the Dolphins have financial flexibility. That won’t be the case in 2025 and beyond when talented young players such as Tagovailoa, safeties Jevon Holland and Brandon Jones, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips come off of their rookie deals, or are close to coming off their rookie deals. When that happens, this core is done.
The Dolphins won’t be able to afford everyone.
And by that time key players such as Terron Armstead and cornerback Xavien Howard might be gone due to injury or cost.
The Dolphins must “win now” with this group and Grier must figure out a way to accomplish that. Soon.
I think Grier has done a decent job.
Decent, however, gets you 9-8, and a wildcard berth.
The Dolphins need Grier to be great. As Jimmy Johnson once said about building NFL teams into champions: “The enemy of great is good.”
The Dolphins need Grier to be a visionary and he seems to be following a “win now” blueprint.
The Fangio acquisition, which reportedly makes him the league’s highest-paid assistant coach at $4.5 million per season, is the latest in a line of bold moves that includes edge rusher Bradley Chubb, Hill and Armstead.
The Dolphins seem to recognize they’re operating in a new era of NFL arms races. It’s “win now” more than ever, and that strategy is fulfilled with splashy moves. Ask the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who won a Super Bowl two seasons ago with GM Jason Licht after acquiring quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski and drafting offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs.
Along with that “win now” attitude comes more league-wide aggression at the trade deadline, which has now become a time for daring midseason moves such Grier trading with Denver to acquire Chubb last season.
Windows of opportunity are as short as front-loaded contracts.
The Los Angeles Rams and GM Les Snead showed that last season by trading with Detroit for quarterback Matthew Stafford, trading with Denver for edge rusher Von Miller, and signing wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. after he was released by the Cleveland Browns.
The Rams won last year’s Super Bowl, and made their second Super Bowl appearance in four years after going previously with quarterback Jared Goff in a loss to New England.
I’m not among those who wish to spread venom about Grier.
The past is the past.
What matters at this point is what he does moving forward.
We’re in the middle of one of the most hopeful periods of post-Dan Marino franchise history (yes, it’s been a long time coming). A lot of pieces are in place. Things appear promising.
But remember this, too — the Dolphins are a 9-8 team. They need more than finishing touches.
In fact, the Dolphins still require some fundamental building blocks.
Grier must acquire those as well as the finishing pieces.
Can he do it in one year? It can be done, as past champions have shown us, but we’ll see if Grier can succeed in that unenviable position.
Fangio, you’d figure, is a fundamental piece.
However, that list of essential fundamental pieces also includes obtaining upgrades at running back, backup quarterback, offensive tackle and cornerback — to name a few.
Each of the finishing pieces — perhaps the No. 2 quarterback, No. 2 running back, No. 3 tight end, No. 4 safety, etc. — might or might not turn out to be important. And performance isn’t all on the general manager.
It’s the coach’s job to put the player in position to make the play, and it’s the player’s job to make the play.
But it’s Grier’s job to make sure that player is on the roster if/when needed.
One of the lessons we can take from Sunday’s Super Bowl is that GMs can get the job done in one year, and even stay on top for multiple years. The question for the Dolphins is whether Grier is the man to do that before this current window of opportunity closes.
