General manager Chris Grier only overlapped with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for one season in New England, and that came before Belichick was brought over to the New York Jets for a three-season stint as the defensive coordinator.
But head coach Brian Flores and many other fresh faces within this organization have been engrained with the “Patriot Way” — the philosophies and theories of coaching and team building — for numerous seasons.
But no one can seem to replicate the magic elsewhere. And that isn’t to say that the Miami Dolphins should try. But what can Chris Grier, Brian Flores and company do differently than in years past to try to help maximize their rebuilding effort?
We spoke yesterday about how Chris Grier isn’t going to be a big free agency spender, a declaration that plays directly into one specific corner of Patriots philosophy.
Compensatory picks. For the second straight year, the Miami Dolphins have been awarded none. Meanwhile, the Patriots (fresh off their sixth Super Bowl victory) were awarded two 3rd-round selections and four overall.
Grier deciding Miami is going to be a passive player on the free agent market opens the door for this team to be a greater beneficiary of extra picks. The value of these selections grew in value back in 2017, when the NFL owners gave the green light for these picks to be traded, too.
So how does Miami replicate this piece of the “Patriot Way”? That comes down to how they value guys like Cameron Wake, William Hayes and Ja’Wuan James. Have a price point to retain your talent, but also account for a potential pick on the line by resigning them as well.
This really just reinforces that the Dolphins need conviction with their own talent. If the team deems Ja’Wuan James is worth 9.5M per year and James would rather play elsewhere for $10.25M, then the team needs to be comfortable with the proposition of a 2020 3rd-round selection as their return on investment.
