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$2 million. That's how much Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and limited partner/chairman Bruce Beal were fined by the NFL for impermissible contact with Tom Brady back in 2019 and 2021. Apparently, the Dolphins tried to recruit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers superstar quarterback to Miami as a partner, team executive, or perhaps even as a player.
This recent development points to the fact that the Dolphins have been, at the very least, looking at the prospect of replacing current starting QB Tua Tagovailoa, who himself has spoken out about this issue. According to the 24-year-old, he hasn't let all these whispers affect him (h/t Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN):
“Yeah, I mean, I'm still here,” he said. “To me, that's all noise at this point.”
To be fair, this is the GOAT we're talking about here. Any team in the league would be remiss if they didn't explore the possibility of bringing Brady to their squad. Then again, it seems as though the Dolphins did more than just “explore.”
Earlier in the week, Tagovailoa also told reporters that he's doing what he can to drown out the noise:
“I would say the only thing that gets frustrating is if you hear it every day or if you see it every day,” he said. “For me, I eliminate all of that. Don't hear it. Don't see it. I go home, go to my family, study, wake up the next day, come back and enjoy football. I hear everything obviously from the media and then when [the communications staff] preps me for whatever you guys are going to say, then I'm like, ‘Ah, I've got to answer this. All right, let me figure out something politically correct to say.'”
Incidentally, the Dolphins recently had their joint practice with Brady and his Bucs ahead of their preseason opener on Saturday. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, however, has not put much stock into this event:
“For me, nothing happened. Everyone else is the one making it awkward,” McDaniel said. “It doesn't occupy a single iota of space with anybody. It's hard enough to be good in this league. As the Miami Dolphins, all of our energy is very coordinated and only has to do with us getting better and everything else would be an opportunity cost that we're not willing to expend.”
