Details of Dolphins’ Tom Brady-Sean Payton package deal are wild
By Mike Luciano
By now, every New England Patriots fan knows the galaxy-brained scheme that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross tried to pull off. Ross tried to convince Tom Brady to join Miami by dangling an ownership stake in his face and pulling Sean Payton away from his short-lived retirement.
Brady had just retired, and some might speculate that the reason he decided to retire was due to the fact that the Dolphins were under fire after getting sued by former head coach Brian Flores. That whole plan eventually blew up, and Brady returned to the Buccaneers a month later.
The Dolphins eventually settled on former 49ers assistant Mike McDaniel, but it has since become clear that Ross wanted the Brady-Payton package in the worst way. The things he was willing to do to pull this off are preposterous.
According to Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Dolphins were willing to give Payton a contract worth $100 million over the next five years. That would have made him the league’s second-highest-paid coach behind Bill Belichick. If Brady would have come along as well, Miami would have easily won the NFL offseason.
The Miami Dolphins heavily pursued Sean Payton to be their next HC and offered him a four-year, $100 million deal, per @AlbertBreer pic.twitter.com/kdTA2f9aD1
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) June 14, 2022
The Dolphins wanted to acquire Tom Brady and Sean Payton.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe has already written about how the Dolphins desperately wanted Brady on their side. Not only would it have given them an upgrade at quarterback over Tua Tagovailoa and Ross bragging rights against the Patriots, but it would’ve given Brady an avenue with which to jump into the ownership field.
Brady seems to have left that field alone for the time being, as he is going to walk into an ungodly sum of money to be the main man on FOX’s NFL coverage. Payton seemed unmoved by Ross’ millions, as he is sitting the year out and making the rounds as an analyst himself.
Yes, the Dolphins were ready to land Sean Payton (and Tom Brady). And, yes, the Dolphins were ready to give Payton a big-money contract. https://t.co/ku4299H7nx
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 14, 2022
Even though Brady has left New England once before, the idea of seeing him fully decked out in teal and orange would have been a crime against nature in the eyes of many diehards. After years of crushing Miami’s dreams, he was just going to head down to South Beach and air it out with Payton?
Luckily, it appears that things worked out for all non-Miami parties. Brady unretired and will chase one more ring with Tampa, Payton will get to pick and choose his coaching opportunities, and TB12 got his post-football career sorted out. Once again, Ross got the short end of the stick.
