The Phinsider
The former New England Patriots cornerback is not a fan of Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel.
When a former New England Patriots player takes a shot at the Miami Dolphins, it is not typically noteworthy. Rivals in the AFC East, unless a player has played for both teams, animosity can exist between the Patriots and Dolphins. But, when that former Patriots player is also the father of a potential free agent addition the Dolphins could be targeting, suddenly there is more to the commentary.
Former Patriots Pro Bowl cornerback Asante Samuel, Sr., made some direct and targeted comments towards the Dolphins on his podcast, “Say What Needs To Be Said”, this week. Shared by FinsXtra on X, Samuel took Miami to task for trading Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Pittsburgh Steelers, with head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier taking the brunt of the criticism.
“The Dolphins had no reason to trade Jalen Ramsey, other than they’re sensitive,” Samuel said. “There’s no leadership in the Dolphins organization. Mike McDaniel is a pushover. Chris Grier, the general manager, he has no backbone. These guys over here, the Miami Dolphins, they are running this team like a little league team.”
He continued, “No one can stand up to the players. They are terrified of their own players. They have no control over their players.”
McDaniel, during his first two years with the Dolphins, was commended for his relationship with the players and the locker room culture he helped establish. Last year, entering his third season, McDaniel attempted to put more of the handling of the locker room and the policing of the players on the players themselves, and it did not go as planned. After the season, reports indicated players were constantly late to practices and meetings, fines did nothing to change the behavior, and the players were not fully bought in.
A little freedom provided by McDaniel led to the players taking advantage of the situation and the team losing control of the locker room.
Earlier this offseason, linebacker Bradley Chubb spoke about the locker room and how the players did not buy in like they should have. “I’m going to say last year, we were lying honestly. Point blank, period. We felt it. We put our toe in the water, but we didn’t dive all the way in. We didn’t get all the way there with each other. We weren’t making the effort to go the extra mile and I would say this year, we’re doing that. I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out for us, but we are putting forth that foot to change it because last year, like I said, we said we wanted to change, yeah, we’re doing this, we’re doing that; but it’s not going exactly how we want to.”
There is something to what Samuel was saying about the Dolphins moving too far toward letting the players have control. Was trading Ramsey simply an example of McDaniel and Grier...
