Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Grier: Waddle, Phillips options to be picked up
MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins will not be letting their two 2021 first-round picks hit free agency next offseason.
General manager Chris Grier, with the NFL draft starting April 25, addressed a number of offseason topics in a pre-draft media session Tuesday.
Most newsworthy, he said the team will be picking up the fifthyear options on the contracts of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips.
“We’ll end up picking it up on them,” Grier said at team facilities. “I’m comfortable saying it. There’s no reason to sit here and lie to you guys and hide it.”
Waddle, the No. 6 pick that year, is a no-brainer with 251 receptions for 3,385 yards and 18 touchdowns over his first three NFL seasons.
Phillips, the University of Miami product, would also be considered as such, except he is coming off a torn Achilles in late November that he’s rehabbing this offseason. Nonetheless, Grier is comfortable committing to keeping both through at least the 2025 season.
The Dolphins have a May 2 deadline to officially exercise both fifth-year options.
Grier jokingly referred to Phillips as Dr. Phillips after Miami’s esteemed edge defender told ESPN at the Miami Hurricanes’ spring game over the weekend that he expects to be ready for the season. The GM noted Phillips and fellow edge defender Bradley Chubb, coming off a torn ACL, have been “maniacal” in rehab, but he was not putting any timeline on his return on Tuesday.
Both are also eligible for longterm extensions. Waddle, in particular, comes into focus after
fellow 2021 wideout DeVonta Smith got a three-year, $75 million extension with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Grier declined to comment on any potential extension talks with Waddle, though.
The Dolphins have a firstround pick for the first time since they selected their two 2021 first-rounders now eligible for fifth-year options.
It’s also the first time Miami coach Mike McDaniel has a firstround pick.
“He has been out of his mind,” Grier said. “He’s recommending everybody to me, but it’s been fun.”
Grier said, while the team looks at every position for draft prospects, he’s not eyeing quarterbacks in the first round with Miami confident in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. That said, Grier is not counting out selecting a passer later in the draft.
“We always look at every position,” Grier said. “I would say that’s not something we’re looking at in the first round. That’s not a position we’ve even talked about. There’s some good players, but we’re very happy with Tua. … “I wouldn’t say we’re not going to draft a quarterback here at any point.”
Grier noted that the Dolphins selected quarterback Skylar Thompson in the seventh round in 2022 despite being pleased with Tagovailoa then.
As far as Tagovailoa’s extension talks, Grier said: “It’s something that, when it happens, it happens.”
Grier is known to wheel and deal during the draft and said some draft trade conversations are ongoing now, but most take place once the draft begins.
“If a deal is too good to pass up, you pull the trigger now,” Grier said. “Most of them are on draft day, because most teams want to see if the player’s still there (when a pick comes up).”
Unlike Waddle and Phillips, the Dolphins don’t have the luxury of picking up safety Jevon Holland for his fifth season now, heading into the 2021 draft class’ fourth season because he was a secondround pick.
“Jevon is a big piece here,” Grier said as Holland enters the final season on his rookie deal. “We’ll spend some time talking with him. I’m excited for him to just get healthy and have a good year here.”
After McDaniel said the Dolphins extended a contract offer to former star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., Grier said Tuesday there’s “nothing imminent.”