NFL hits Dolphins hard for tampering, dismisses Brian Flores' allegations of tanking

Brian Flores and his representatives are less than satisfied with the scope of the NFL’s punishment levied against his former employer.

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was suspended and fined $1.5 million Tuesday, and the team will forfeit a 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round selection for tampering. The NFL’s six-month investigation stemmed from Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.

The investigation concluded that, despite Flores’ accusation, the Dolphins did not intentionally lose games during the 2019 season in order to secure a higher draft pick. The team, though, was found to have impermissible communication with Don Yee, the agent for star quarterback Tom Brady and New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton.

Flores was fired as Dolphins head coach in January and hired as a senior defensive assistant by the Steelers in February — less than three weeks after his groundbreaking lawsuit was filed. Flores alleged that Ross offered him financial incentive to tank games, but the NFL didn’t find evidence of that happening.

“I am thankful that the NFL’s investigator found my factual allegations against Stephen Ross are true,” Flores said in a statement released by his lawyers. “At the same time, I am disappointed to learn that the investigator minimized Mr. Ross’s offers and pressure to tank games, especially when I wrote and submitted a letter at the time to Dolphins executives documenting my serious concerns regarding this subject at the time, which the investigator has in her possession.

“While the investigator found that the Dolphins had engaged in impermissible tampering of ‘unprecedented scope and severity,’ Mr. Ross will avoid any meaningful consequences. There is nothing more important when it comes to the game of football itself than the integrity of the game. When the integrity of the game is called into question, fans suffer, and football suffers.”

Investigators determined the Dolphins didn’t intentionally lose games in 2019 and neither Ross nor anyone from the team instructed Flores to lose on purpose. However, investigators found Ross expressed several times during the season his belief that draft position should take priority over won-loss record.

Investigators said there are differing recollections about the wording, timing, and context of Flores’ claim of a $100,000-a-game offer from the club to tank, but it “was not intended or taken to be a serious offer, nor was the subject pursued in any respect” by Ross or anyone else at the club.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell chastised Ross for making the comments.

“An owner or senior executive must understand the weight that his or her words carry, and the risk that a comment will be taken seriously and acted upon, even if that is not the intent or expectation,” Goodell said. “Even if made in jest and not intended to be taken seriously, comments suggesting that draft position is more important than winning can be misunderstood and carry with them an unnecessary potential risk to the integrity of the game. The comments made by Mr. Ross did not affect Coach Flores’ commitment to win and the Dolphins competed to win every game. Coach Flores is to be commended for not allowing any comment about the relative importance of draft position to affect his commitment to win throughout the season.”

Flores’ 58-page lawsuit against the NFL and its 32 teams remains ongoing. The league filed a motion in June to have the case moved to arbitration.

Douglas Wigdor, a founding partner in the law firm representing Flores, criticized the NFL’s ruling Tuesday.

“The punishment announced today is obviously inadequate and disheartening,” he said in an email. “Unfortunately, it remains clear that the NFL cannot police itself, which is why we look forward to continuing to push the legal process, prove all of Brian’s claims, as well as those of a class of black executives, coaches and candidate, and force real change upon the NFL.”

Ross’ suspension runs through Oct. 17.

Goodell said: “I know of no prior instance of a team violating the prohibition on tampering with both a head coach and star player, to the potential detriment of multiple other clubs, over a period of several years,” Goodell said in a statement. “Similarly, I know of no prior instance in which ownership was so directly involved in the violations.”

The investigation concluded the Dolphins violated the league’s anti-tampering policy on three occasions. The Dolphins had impermissible communications with Brady as early as August 2019 through the 2020 postseason, while he was under contract to the New England Patriots.

Dolphins vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal conducted “these numerous and detailed discussions” and kept Ross and other team executives informed of his conversations with Brady.

The Dolphins again had impermissible communications with both Brady and his agent, Yee, no later than early December 2021 and after the season, while he was under contract to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Those discussions focused on Brady becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive, although at times they also included the possibility he would play for the Dolphins. The league says Ross and Beal participated in these discussions.

The third tampering violation involved Payton. In January, the Dolphins had impermissible communications with Yee about having Payton serve as Miami’s head coach. The Dolphins did not seek consent from New Orleans to have these discussions, which occurred before Payton announced his decision to retire from the Saints.

Miami requested permission to speak to Payton for the first time after that announcement but New Orleans declined to grant it.

Ross may not be present at the team’s facility and may not represent the club at any team or NFL event during his suspension. He also may not attend any league meeting before the annual meeting in 2023, and he is removed from all league committees indefinitely.

Beal was fined $500,000 and may not attend any league meeting for the remainder of the year.