AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Jets, Patriots

Dolphins

While the Dolphins aren’t tanking, it is fair to say they’ve changed their organizational philosophy from past seasons. 

“I’d say a lot of credit has to go to our owner, Stephen Ross,” Dolphins GM Chris Grier said via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “When he decided to make a change, and that wasn’t easy, because Adam [Gase] and Mike [Tannenbaum] are good people, and they’re good at jobs, Steve, from his point of view, wanted a different approach to build a long-term winner. … Steve was really the one that said, ‘OK, how?’ And I laid it out, from my past experiences, I’ve been around a lot of good coaches, and a lot of good mentors in the personnel world, we just decided we were going to build this thing from the ground up. It’s not trying to build just to win right now. If that happens, great.  We’re not trying to tank or lose. And I’d say the moves we’ve made so we’re going to be competitive, we’re going to be young, and we’re going to try and win games. But we’re going to build it the right way, and acquiring picks just happens to be an added bonus.”

Grier hinted the team was aware of the potential quarterbacks in future draft classes, but wasn’t hinging any plans on a particular player. 

“When you’re out evaluating, you’re always looking at every position, and you try and look ahead maybe into the future, but the draft is so important, of that year, every year, that you never want to take anything for granted,” Grier said. “Like, ‘We’re definitely gonna be able to do this or that.’ No, we spent a lot of time on all the players this year, we spent a lot of time with the quarterbacks this year. Every scouting department is doing that as well. You’re always looking to see this year’s. And when you’re in a school, you always notice good players. They’re in your mind. But you don’t really study them because you don’t know them. That’s the advantage the current draft class always has, because you get to know the person, the kid he is, the intelligence, the character. With future classes, we don’t know that stuff, and that always plays a big part of any position, whether it’s a quarterback or not.” 

The Dolphins already have two picks each in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh rounds in 2020. 

“Obviously, the more picks you have allows you flexibility in any year,” Grier said. “If there are players you really like in the current class, you can go get those players now. Or you build towards the future, and keep building the right way. If you acquire picks here and there, it allows you to do things in the future. It creates a lot of opportunity to stay very flexible in your approach in terms of what you want to do in the draft, free agency, everything.”

• Landing with the Dolphins and QB coach Jim Caldwell might be the best thing for the career of QB Josh Rosen: “Jim Caldwell is one of the better coaching development quarterback coaches there is,” NFL Network analyst and former NFL GM Charley Casserly said via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson. “Matt Stafford [played the] best football of his career [with Caldwell as his head coach]. Peyton Manning will stand on a table, literally, for this guy and endorse him.”

Jets

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says without a second-round pick, the Jets took a couple of swings on DE Jachai Polite and OT Chuma Edoga, talented players with questions about their maturity. 

Patriots

• According to Albert Breer, Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham was thought by one NFC executive to have the best arm talent and throw the “prettiest ball” out of all the 2019 rookie quarterbacks.