The NFL Scouting Combine is generally regarded as the biggest job expo in sports. Hundreds of players get shuttled in and out of meeting rooms, workouts, weigh-ins and everything in between.
For the Miami Dolphins, coach Brian Flores considers it a vital piece of the Dolphins’ future plans. And not just for the 2019 NFL Draft in April.
“It’s all part of the process but again, this week is so important…we’re not going to be able to pick every guy we like. I understand that. We’ll get to know them and maybe down the line this conversation that was had here just helps our process two, three years from now…this is all important, not just for right now but in the future.”
This is one of those refreshing snippets from Coach Flores, who once again played things close to the vest during his media session.
The Dolphins are wise to have this philosophy. And sure, players may change over time and their circumstances may change. But there’s no way more data points could ever be considered a negative on a player.
And with general manager Chris Grier’s stance that Miami probably isn’t going to be big free agency players, look for the evolving process in Miami to involve another New England Patriot staple down the road: exchanging late round picks for established (and underachieving) veterans.
Now, we just made the case that the Dolphins shouldn’t be offering anything for Bengals wide receiver John Ross, but it really comes back to the timing. Miami is kickstarting their rebuild and needs all the ammo on young, cheap labor that they can get right now.
But knowing what Flores and the rest of the Dolphins are thinking this week can help us get some perspective on what the team may do in the coming years as this pool of players are looking to change teams.
