According to recent rumors, Tom Brady never really wanted to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Instead, the veteran QB was said to be angling to be a part-owner and player of the Miami Dolphins.
More than that, though, there was apparently another opportunity waiting for Brady had he been able to execute the move: a front office role with the Dolphins.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe made the revelation, noting that TB12 was set to get a high position at the front office–with Derek Jeter's former role with the Miami Marlins being made as the closest comparison.
The other, and more significant, reason was that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross presented Brady with a golden opportunity to get into the business of the NFL. Per the league source, Brady was going to be given a position high in the Miami front office, similar to Derek Jeter’s former position with the Miami Marlins. Florio reported Thursday that the Dolphins were going to introduce Brady as a minority owner the week before the Super Bowl.
Everyone knows by now that the said move didn't materialize, thanks to the Brian Flores lawsuit involving the Dolphins, NFL and several other franchises. As reported earlier, Tom Brady was, at one point, close to joining Miami along with Sean Payton.
The QB-coach tandem was said to be a “package deal,” and the Dolphins allegedly have everything line up to make it happen. Unfortunately, the Flores lawsuit came and threw a wrench to those plans–eventually forcing Brady to return to the Buccaneers instead.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
Then came the Brian Flores lawsuit. Filed (coincidentally or not) the same day Brady retired, the litigation resulted in the plug being pulled on the Payton/Brady plan.
After Brady became a minority owner, the Dolphins would have indeed acquired the contractual rights to employ Payton from the Saints. Then, the Dolphins would have at some point gotten the rights from the Buccaneers to bring Brady to the roster.
It would have been interesting to see Brady suit up for the Dolphins with Payton coaching him from the sidelines. Nonetheless, given the situation involving Miami, it would have been difficult anyway and there might be too much off-court distractions that could hinder the team from succeeding.
As for the Buccaneers and their fans, while they'll have mixed feelings about the alleged turn of events, they'll probably need to keep their focus on the upcoming season. As long as they have Brady's commitment to help the team in their 2022 campaign, there won't be big problems anyway.