Dolphins Hire Former Titans GM to Oversee Personnel

Dolphins Hire Former Titans GM to Oversee Personnel

The Miami Dolphins have hired former Titans general manager Jon Robinson as their new senior personnel executive. His role will be to serve as Jon-Eric Sullivan’s right-hand man and assist with the draft process.

Jon Robinson was a long-time scout for the rival Patriots. After 7 years as a scout, he was promoted to the director of college scouting for the team. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers found his work impressive and later hired Robinson as their director of player personnel, a rather high-ranking position in the front office. This dug the path for him to become the Tennessee Titans general manager from 2016 through 2022.

Robinson was very successful early on as a general manager. He helped break their playoff drought in 2017. His potential career-defining move came in 2019 when he traded for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the former Dolphins starter. The Titans found a hunk of success under him, with multiple playoff appearances and successful draft picks.

Most notably, Jon Robinson drafted All-Pros in safety Kevin Byard, receiver AJ Brown, and running back Derrick Henry.

He also selected quarterback Malik Willis in his final draft as the Titans’ general manager. The quarterback is highly rumoured to come play for the Dolphins, as most of the integral parts of the Green Bay Packers staff are now in Miami.

With all the good comes some bad. This is true for every professional general manager. Robinson is infamous for trading All-Pro receiver AJ Brown rather than reaching a new contract agreement. It wouldn’t have been as bad if the team then drafted a player of similar caliber (a difficult feat), but Robinson oversaw the pick, selecting receiver Treylon Burks from Arkansas.

He did not pan out in Tennessee, recording only 53 receptions in his 3 years as a Titan. Jon Robinson also selected Isaiah Wilson in the first round of the 2020 draft. Wilson went off the rails early on, not taking football seriously enough and attempting to become a rapper after being traded and subsequently released by the Miami Dolphins.

Though Robinson is not the Dolphins’ general manager, he will have a large array of responsibilities, mainly the draft class and the free agents added to the roster next month. He will not be the final decision maker. His time as a general manager may be remembered for his errors, but he did a lot of good for a very lackluster franchise.