The Miami Dolphins have had an incredibly busy offseason, as they fired head coach Brian Flores on Black Monday and immediately began looking for their next coach, eventually landing on Mike McDaniel.
While there have been a number of statements and reports claiming that McDaniel was the coach that they wanted all along and Tua Tagovailoa was their quarterback, PFT’s Mike Florio has stated that this wasn’t exactly the case.
On Monday morning, Florio reported that the Dolphins had plans to go after Sean Payton as their head coach and Tom Brady as their quarterback before Flores’ lawsuit was dropped on their heads. According to Florio’s source, the team actually contacted the Saints to speak with Payton, but the request was denied.
Payton stepped away from the New Orleans Saints this offseason after 16 seasons with the team, and there have been rumors that he will find himself as part of a broadcasting team. Brady retired this offseason as well after 22 seasons as one of the best quarterbacks in football, but there have been some who believe that he could come back and play.
If the Dolphins were to pursue either Payton or Brady, they would’ve had to have come to an agreement with their respective teams, considering they were both under contract at the time they left.
Florio also reported that there have been discussions about adding Brady as a minority owner of the team, and those conversations could still take place if it’s made clear that he will not be playing again. There is apparently a friendship between Brady and Bruce Beal, who would likely become the majority owner if Stephen Ross were to sell the team.
These reports are interesting when considering the commitment that the team has made publicly to their coach and quarterback. Since their last coach was fired, it was made out to be that Flores was the main player behind the conversations to try and replace Tagovailoa, but if these reports are true, that may not have been the case.
