Miami Dolphins general manager Chris Grier made a big move before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline when he acquired star pass rusher Bradley Chubb from the Denver Broncos.
Aside from adding a really talented piece to the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins issued a clear message to the rest of the league: In Miami, the time is now.
With one of the most electric offenses in the league and an improved defense after the trade, the 5-3 Dolphins have given themselves an even greater chance of advancing to the playoffs and making some serious noise.
According to Grier, nothing short of a Super Bowl will satisfy in South Florida.
Chris Grier: We won’t be satisfied until we win a Super Bowl
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) November 2, 2022
In the summer of 2021, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross made it clear that he wanted his team to win a championship in a “very short period of time.” It looks like Grier is doing everything he can to put the Dolphins in the right position to do just that.
At the moment, the Dolphins sit at the No. 3 seed in the AFC East. If the season ended today, they’d be in the playoffs with the No. 6 seed in the AFC. Things could be even more promising for the Dolphins had Tua Tagovailoa not suffered a scary head injury earlier in the season.
After suffering a concussion against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa missed two games. The Dolphins lost to the Bengals and their two successive matchups.
However, the team is 2-0 since his return and a perfect 5-0 in games that the University of Alabama product has been able to finish.
One of the biggest jobs for the offense here on out is to keep Tagovailoa out of harm’s way. So far this season, Tagovailoa has completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 1,678 yards, 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He’s just four touchdown passes shy from equaling the total amount he threw for last season.
The truth is that the Dolphins choosing to sacrifice a 2023 first-round pick in the Chubb deal is further proof that the team is all in on Tagovailoa. He has seemingly shown the team that he is the quarterback of the present and future.
Surely, nothing would make Grier and Ross happier than seeing Tagovailoa hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy in a few months.
