MIAMI — Light is shed on the shadows from which Miami Dolphins ownership and management like to operate.
What it reveals is how business is done when nobody is looking.
What it reveals, too, is this franchise’s continuing fragility of scant faith in quarterback Tua Tagovailoa even as they claim otherwise publicly.
It was an odd coincidence, what happened on Feb. 1. The same day Tom Brady announced his retirement from Tampa Bay (though never filing formal retirement papers), recently fired Dolphins coach Brian Flores announced a major lawsuit against the NFL that directly implicated a few teams — including the Dolphins and owner Stephen Ross.
We thought the lawsuit was seismic then. It accused the NFL of racism in its hiring (and firing) practices, and it particularly alleged Ross had offered Flores a $100,000 bonus bribe per game to tank the 2019 season to get the overall No. 1 draft pick.
And it is seismic, as it slogs its way through the legal system and an NFL investigation of the claim against Ross, which if proven true almost certainly would force the owner to step down in disgrace.
Now we know how big the impact of that lawsuit, and the timing of it, really was.
It detonated the Dolphins’ grand plan to bring both Brady and newly available coach Sean Payton to Miami.
We explored this budding drama in a March 4 column headlined, "Brady a Dolphins part owner? Why signs strongly suggest it may be in his future." It detailed Brady’s close relationship with Ross and with owner-in-waiting Bruce Beal.
I wrote how Brady and fashion-model wife Gisele Bundchen were among guests before the recent Super Bowl at a lavish birthday party for Beal at the home of Miami Beach billionaire Wayne Boich. Kevin Hart was there. Cardi B arrived with 15 bottles of pricey Armand de Brignac champagne.
I wrote how Brady and Beal had partied together at a Kentucky Derby. How Brady was building a $20 million mansion on Indian Creek, the exclusive enclave in Miami where Don Shula lived.
The real-life soap opera was advanced with details this week in a Boston Globe story by by Patriots writer Ben Volin.
The report says the Dolphins were prepared to announce just before the Super Bowl that Brady was joining the club as a front-office executive, perhaps, president and as a part owner. The plan was that Brady would then unretire to play again — for the AFC East rival his Patriots spent two decades tormenting.
The Dolphins believed having Brady would lure Payton. Brady insisted on a veteran, accomplished head coach. Payton and Brady are longtime friends who share the same agent
“The lawsuit messed up everything,” Volin wrote. “The plan to hire a white coach and white team president without going through the Rooney Rule probably wouldn’t fly once the Dolphins were sued for racial discrimination.”
Said Volin on Tuesday, appearing on the Dan Le Batard Show With Stugotz podcast: “They had most of the details worked out. ... It was going to happen.” Though Volin senses Brady might not have reactivated as a QB until 2023, when he would be turning 46.
Miami’s grand plan obliterated by the suit, the Dolphins days later hired first-time head coach Mike McDaniel on Feb. 7. Brady unretired on March 13 to return to Tampa Bay.
And the Dolphins were back to insisting publicly they have all the faith in the world in Tagovailoa.
Even though most in the organization would rather have Joe Burrow or Justin Herbert.
Even though last season they had reportedly been the main pursuers of Deshaun Watson, with Flores leading the push.
And even though, 10 weeks ago, they were maneuvering behind the scenes to sign Brady, first in an executive role akin to what Derek Jeter had with the Marlins, but likely with his eventually taking over as QB.
“Truth is stranger than fiction with this one. Definitely [expletive] crazy,” Volin said. “But Stephen Ross has long had an infinity for Tom Brady and has long wanted to stick it to the Patriots.”
Two points bear noting in the way of a postscript:
First, Miami would had have to negotiate a trade with Tampa for Brady, assuming he returned to be quarterback for the Fins, and with New Orleans, in order to sign Payton. It is reasonable to think the cost of those two deals might have prevented the Dolphins from making the offseason splash they did, such as with the megatrade for receiver Tyreek Hill.
Second, all logic tells us this ain’t over. The infatuation with Brady figures to continue as long as Ross and Beal are running the franchise. The idea that Tom Brady will be Miami’s starting quarterback in 2023, at age 46, seems as close to likely as it does to plausible.
And here is Tagavailoa, the team around him appreciably improved, entering Year 3 in the crosshairs yet again, still doubted by the franchise that drafted him fifth overall but has never quite had his back.
