The Miami Dolphins had a much different vision for their offseason than what actually played out.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, the Dolphins originally planned to pursue a Sean Payton-Tom Brady combo as head coach and quarterback but scrapped those plans shortly after the Brian Flores lawsuit was filed.
The Dolphins actually contacted the New Orleans Saints seeking permission to speak with Payton, which reportedly happened after his resignation on Jan. 25, but the Saints declined the request, according to Florio.
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Had the Dolphins been granted permission, the rules would have required them to first agree on potential compensation for hiring Payton with the Saints before working out a deal with him directly.
Meanwhile, Brady officially announced his retirement on Feb. 1 but the Dolphins have had internal discussions about the possibility of bringing Brady on board as a minority owner, per Florio.
Those considerations are currently on hold, though, because of his uncertain status on whether or not he will remain retired.
It is unclear just how much Brady or Payton were aware of the Dolphins’ initial plans.
It is no secret the Dolphins have long been enamored with Brady. In fact, in Flores’ lawsuit there is an allegation of Stephen Ross trying to get Flores to violate the NFL’s tampering rules by setting up a meeting with an unnamed star quarterback in 2020, which reportedly is believed to be Brady.
Florio also noted that the Patriots were concerned that Brady would join the Dolphins in 2020 with partial ownership on the table.
While Brady says he is retired, there is plenty of speculation he could return, although the Bucs still control his rights.
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