Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been suspended for a year and fined $1.5 million for tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton. After the NFL laid the hammer down, Ross released a statement on the matter.
Statement from Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross: pic.twitter.com/M1SEwzejDP
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 2, 2022
He says all the investigations into purposely losing games have been dismissed involving Brian Flores, the former head coach. Stephen Ross also denied any tampering with Brady or Payton.
But, the NFL claims that the Dolphins in fact did try to recruit TB12 before and after he signed with the Buccaneers:
“Impermissible communications with both Mr. Brady and his agent during and after the 2021 season, while he was under contract to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. … Those discussions focused on Mr. Brady becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins.”
As for Payton, Stephen Ross and the front office seemingly broke the rules, too:
“The NFL said discussions with Sean Payton “occurred before Coach Payton announced his decision to retire as head coach of the Saints. Following that announcement, Miami requested permission to speak with Coach Payton for the first time, which New Orleans declined to grant.”
“In January 2022, the Dolphins had impermissible communications with Don Yee, the agent for Saints head coach Sean Payton, about having Mr. Payton serve as Miami's head coach. Miami did not seek consent from New Orleans to have these discussions…”
Yikes. Nevertheless, Stephen Ross insists none of this happened. The Dolphins will lose a first-round pick in 2023 and a third-rounder in 2024 for “violating the integrity of the game”.
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