Details from a six-month investigation into the Miami Dolphins’ activities from 2019-22 have emerged, and there are some serious disciplinary actions that have been handed down by the NFL that could have a direct impact on the organization for years to come.
There are multiple layers to this investigation, mainly focused on two topics.
One of which was whether or not the Dolphins violated tampering rules with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, who were both under contract with other organizations at the time.
The other subject in the investigation is whether or not the Dolphins intentionally lost games in 2019 to improve their draft position for the 2020 NFL Draft, and whether or not Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered former head coach Brian Flores financial incentives or otherwise encouraged him to lose games on purpose as head coach.
The NFL revealed their findings on Tuesday, which showed that the Dolphins violated tampering rules with Brady during the 2019-20 season while he was part of the New England Patriots organization, and then again in 2021 while he was on the Buccaneers. They were also found to have done the same thing with Payton in January before his retirement, being found guilty of “impermissible communication” with both Brady and Payton.
When it comes to the claims of intentionally losing games, they were not found guilty of doing so, but the investigation does mention Ross expressing the belief that the team’s 2020 draft position “should take priority” over the team’s record.
Following these tampering findings, the league has ultimately decided to enact a number of disciplinary actions, including the organization losing a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft as well as a third-round selection in 2024.
On top of this, Ross has been fined $1.5 million as well as being suspended from all team activities through October 17th.
Dolphins Vice Chairman Bruce Beal has also been fined $500,ooo and will not be able to attend league meetings for the duration of the 2022-23 NFL season.
Many around the NFL world are happy to see the Dolphins punished for the tampering findings, but also believe that the league could have done more considering the very extreme hinting in their findings that Stephen Ross wanted to lose games.
The part about intentionally losing games is interesting. Basically the Dolphins didn't try to intentionally lose games despite the owner: saying he thought that would be best, telling that to anyone that would listen and (jokingly) offering money to his head coach to lose games https://t.co/Nqe5fwaKtg
— Robert Rimpson+ (@Rimpsanity) August 2, 2022
https://twitter.com/BigJigglyPanda/status/1554501306173333504
Reminder that the Brian Flores trial is still alive and has yet to get to the discovery phase aka this story isn't over yet. https://t.co/qdP7fQJfVD
— 'Nata Edwards (@NataTheScribe) August 2, 2022
"Every club is expected to make a good-faith effort to win every game" is not very good defense against a deluge of incentives propping up the opposite side. https://t.co/IadxbBCnks
— Jeremy Bowers (@jeremybowers) August 2, 2022
It certainly appears that these findings suggest Stephen Ross wanted to lose games, but there may be a lack of evidence to prove that there was any action to do so on purpose.
Regardless, it is certainly a harsh punishment to lose a first-round pick, and hopefully this dissuades teams from tampering with players and coaches contracted to other teams moving forward.