After days of speculation, the Dolphins have fired General Manager Dennis Hickey. Hickey was hired by owner Steven Ross in 2014 after numerous candidates turned down the opening over concerns of the Dolphins hierarchy.
This was a move that had to be made. His first years’ free agency class was a disaster. His top four signings (Brandon Albert, Louis Delmas, Knoshown Moreno and Courtland Finnegan) were all injury prone players. So it was no surprise that all four of them finished the season on injured reserve which thoroughly diminished their chances to reach the playoffs.
He did have some success in his first draft which produced 2015 team MVP Jarvis Landry and (injured) starting right tackle Juwan James.
The beginning of the end for Hickeys tenure with the Dolphins started when Ross hired Mike Tannenbaum as an advisor. Ross would eventually promote Tannenbaum to be the head of football operations, on which case he became Hickeys boss.
The 2015 season has been a nightmare. The first round draft pick starter the year on injured reserve. There hasn’t been much contribution from any of the other draft picks as well.
Unlike in years past, the Dolphins are finally clearing the path to have one cook in the kitchen when it comes to decision making. Tannenbaum was the main architect in having Joe Philbin removed, thus starting the domino effect of the firing of the coordinators.
Now that Hickey is gone, it is expected that whoever fills the role of General Manager will be more of a player scout than anything else, which would leave all the important decision making to Tannenbaum. One name to keep in mind is current Dolphins Director of College Scouting, Chris Grier.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
