Ross to blame but Flores keeps damaging Dolphins. And cap, QB, draft fallout of discipline

A six-pack of thoughts, notes and reaction in the wake of the NFL docking the Dolphins a 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick, and disciplining Stephen Ross and Bruce Beal for tampering twice with Tom Brady and once with Sean Payton:

▪ Let’s be clear: The blame for this mess should be focused on Ross - and to an extent, owner-in-waiting Beal - because of their poor judgment, carelessness and reckless disregard for NFL rules. Ross’ stewardship of the franchise has delivered more national embarrassments (this episode, BullyGate, the pursuit of Jim Harbaugh when he had Tony Sparano in place) than playoff wins (none).

But let’s also be clear about this: Brian Flores damaged this franchise - left a more impactful and long-term trail of destruction - than most anyone employed by this organization has done in many years.

The most obvious damage wrought by Flores was his allegation of tampering with an unnamed quarterback - Brady - in his lawsuit, which was the impetus of the NFL investigation that culminated Tuesday in the painful loss of a first-round draft choice next April.

That was an example of Flores’ vindictiveness.

“Mr. Ross will avoid any meaningful consequence,” Flores bemoaned after the NFL punishment was announced.

But let’s not overlook how Flores’ stubbornness and arrogance badly damaged the franchise’s best interests in more significant ways.

There was the senseless trading of Minkah Fitzpatrick simply because Flores didn’t want to compromise with Fitzpatrick and use him in the safety role in which he eventually thrived with Pittsburgh, earning him first team All Pro honors in 2019 and 2020.

Even if Austin Jackson becomes a competent right tackle, the Dolphins will never come close to recouping the value of trading Fitzpatrick to Pittsburgh for the 18th overall pick in 2020.

And Flores altered the course of the franchise for the next decade by refusing to do what any coach of a bad team can thoroughly justify doing: playing quarterback Josh Rosen instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick - a move that likely would have greatly enhanced the Dolphins’ chances to land the top pick (Joe Burrow) in the 2020 draft.

Flores claimed he resisted Ross’ desire to lose games - to guarantee a higher draft pick - because of principle. But Flores could have done what any coach of a bad, rebuilding team should do: play the highly-drafted quarterback - not the journeyman - to know precisely what you have in the young guy, especially after trading a second-round pick for him.

Josh Rosen’s shortcomings could have naturally resulted in the higher pick Ross coveted, but in a way that could have been reasonably rationalized. Flores made a foolish football decision - likely costing the Dolphins a chance to land Burrow - and tried to pass it off as taking the moral high road. Spare us.

Ultimately, Flores damaged the Dolphins far more than his sharp defensive mind helped them.

But blame Ross for never establishing with Flores during the interview process that developing young players - and snagging a high draft pick - would supersede winning in 2019. After all, Ross - on the day he fired Adam Gase - said he did it because Gase “wants to win.”

So Flores’ stubbornness in not acquiescing to his owner’s wishes is exceeded only by Ross’ incompetence for apparently never asking Flores in his interview if he was comfortable prioritizing player development over winning in 2019.

▪ As expected, pundits who offered an opinion criticized the Dolphins after commissioner Roger Goodell’s announcement.

Among those: ESPN’s Damien Woody, who said the punishment wasn’t “harsh enough. When you talk about an owner who tampers not once, not twice, but three different times, you talk about predatory! That’s predatory in my mind.”

ESPN’s Louis Riddick quibbled with Ross’ statement that the “independent investigation cleared our organization on any issues related to tanking and all of Brian Flores other allegations.” The investigation actually confirmed Flores’ tampering allegation.

▪ The NFL tells us that while Ross won’t be allowed at Dolphins headquarters until Oct. 18 - and is technically suspended - he will be permitted to attend all games this season. So will Beal. Ross was fined $1.5 million by the NFL, but that’s only .018 percent of his $8.2 billion net worth.

Brady and Payton won’t be penalized. Beal will still have first right to buy the team when Ross sells or dies.

▪ The Dolphins still have the 49ers’ first-round pick in 2023, but the loss of their own first-round pick leaves Miami without the ability to package two ‘23 first-rounders to move up to draft a quarterback if Tua Tagovailoa flops this season.

But don’t overstate this. If the Dolphins and 49ers are as good as expected, then a handful of QB-needy teams likely will be picking ahead of both of them, a group potentially including Houston, Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, the Giants, Washington and Seattle.

Even if Miami had its own pick and San Francisco’s to trade up, no team that badly needs a quarterback likely would bypass a very good one to take any offer of two first-round picks.

Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud are considered the gems of the 2023 QB class.

So if Tagovailoa struggles, the Dolphins must hope that 49ers QB Trey Lance also flops and one of the next tier of 2023 QBs – UM’s Tyler Van Dyke, UF’s Anthony Richardson, Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec, Kentucky’s Wil Levis and Fresno State’s Jake Haener - falls to the 49ers pick owned by Miami.

In a Tagovailoa-flopping scenario, the Dolphins - in eight months - could sign Brady if he wishes to continue playing or Jimmy Garoppolo as stopgaps while a young QB develops; both will be free agents next spring. But there is optimism that Tagovailoa will work out.

▪ Though the Dolphins violated NFL rules in the spring by speaking to Brady about “becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive” - and at times discussed “the possibility of his playing for the Dolphins” - the Dolphins never had a strong conviction that he would be able to play quarterback for them this year, as we reported.

Not only would such a move have required Brady escaping his Tampa Bay contract, but ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported that the NFL told him that for Brady to own part of the team -- and also play for the team -- it would have needed to go to a vote of all owners.

“Current policy stipulates that a current player or coach could have a financial interest in his or her club but only under an agreement affirmed by a vote of the 32 teams. Among the considerations could be salary cap implications.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Tuesday there was “less than a zero percent chance” Brady would have been able to play for the Dolphins in 2022 under any circumstances.

▪ The loss of a 2023 first round pick robs the team of a good player who would be cheap labor for four years but doesn’t have a devastating impact on Miami’s cap. Not having the first round pick would save the Dolphins about a $2.6 million cap hit if the Dolphins were to have picked around 20th next April.

The problem is that the Dolphins are already $2.4 million over the 2023 salary cap. Instead of filling a need (inside linebacker? third cornerback? offensive line?) with a second first-round pick in 2023, they’ll likely need to spend more to fill that need with a veteran free agent.