The NFL handed down a shocking punishment to the Miami Dolphins Tuesday. They were stripped of two draft picks and suspended their owner Stephen Ross for tampering with Tom Brady’s recruitment.
Ross wasn’t thrilled with the outcome, as one might expect.
“Ross is going apes–t,” a league source told Pro Football Talk.
As punishment for having “impermissible contact” with Brady while he was still under contract with the Buccaneers, the Dolphins forfeited their first-round pick in 2023, as well as a third-round selection in 2024. A significant punishment – especially for a team that, as was made clear by the findings, has a desire to upgrade at the quarterback position. Many see this as a make or break season for Tua Tagovailoa’s third-year QB.
Ross was also banned from entering the team facility between Oct. 17 and 17, as part of his punishment. He is also subject to a $1.5million penalty.
The investigation also noted that the team also had “impermissible contact” with former Saints head coach Sean Payton, whom it is no secret the team has shown an interest in since he resigned from his position in New Orleans. It also touched on claims from former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores that the team intentionally tanked for draft position in 2019 – and while it determined they did not “intentionally lose games,” it still found that Ross “expressed his belief that the Dolphins’ position in the upcoming 2020 draft should take priority over the team’s win-loss record.”
Ross released a statement Tuesday after the ruling was passed. He vented some of his frustrations.
“The independent investigation cleared our organization on any issues related to tanking and all of Brian Flores other allegations,” the statement read. “As I have said all along, these allegations were false, malicious and defamatory, and this issue is now put to rest. Concerning tampering I strongly disagree both with the verdict and the punishment. I will accept the result because it is important that our team has no distractions as we start a winning season. I will not allow anything to get in the way of that.”
If this upcoming season isn’t filled with as much “excitement” and “winning” as Ross expects, the lack of a first-round pick will make it much harder to change quarterbacks if they decide to go that route – unless, of course, Brady decides to join the team anyway.
Read the full article here
