Could the fallout of the Brian Flores suit ultimately help the Phins
As we all know, former Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores has claimed that owner Stephen Ross offered him 100k for every loss during the 2019 Season. The motive Flores claims is Ross wanted the Dolphins to tank and secure the #1 overall pick. While nothing has been proven either way, if Flores is proven to be telling the truth there will be dire consequences for Ross and him remaining the owner of the Dolphins. Part of this consequence could ultimately be a great thing for Phins fans. While you could never fault Steven Ross for being cheap, he has run the Dolphins into a dysfunctional mess and struggled mightily to produce a winner.
Would McDaniel be better with a better owner?
Personally, I believe Flores is telling the truth. Why would Flores make up such an outrageous claim? It fits perfectly with why Miami said they fired him for not always following orders. Now we hear that Flores turned down millions in refusing to sign a NDA agreement. That’s a whole lot of risk by Flores to make this claim based on a lie.
The Miami Dolphins had ‘Bullygate’… and now they have ‘Tankgate’.
The sad part is when the Patriots cheated in ‘Spygate’ or ‘Deflategate’, they did it to win games, but Miami’s apparent attempt to cheat was to lose games… and they couldn’t even do that right. And to add insult to injury, they might get penalized heavily for it! Too bad Miami didn’t lose every game that season and get the number one pick… a least we would have selected Super Bowl QB Joe Burrow.
Now, Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league are taking this matter very seriously and will be ‘thoroughly’ looking into this. They said they are prepared to make sure that if there were violations, they won’t be tolerated, and penalties could be levied. Goodell didn’t want to confirm what exactly those penalties would be, however the loss of draft picks, a fine, or Ross losing the franchise could all be on the table. Of course, Dan Snyder was ‘investigated’ too and nothing happened there. While it might be possible Goodell is serious, don’t hold your breathe on a real investigation.
In the event that Ross is voted out if this is found to be true, it would require a ¾ owners vote. To me, this would be a welcome outcome for our franchise. I’ve never been a fan of Ross and this organization has been a joke since he first bought the team. We can make all the excuse we want and put blame on coaches, players and the GM, but the buck starts and stops with the head honcho.
The Dolphins would be better served with a true house cleaning
Having a new owner could be exactly what this franchise needs to finally get out of this slump of decades of mediocrity and countless poor decisions. Sadly, if this were one of the penalties, then you can also bet with the best football software providers that Miami would also lose some type of draft pick or picks. This would be extremely unfortunate for a team that still has a lot of holes to fill. Losing a first round draft pick or more would definitely hinder the Dolphins chances of becoming a consistent playoff team in the near future. But, maybe addition by subtraction is the best thing considering Ross or his protégé Bruce Biel, who is in the line of succession, would be running the show for the next 20 years plus.
It will be interesting to see what the NFL uncovers in their investigation, and whether or not Ross and the Dolphins get punished. It seems Flores’s recent comments include racism as well as getting bribed to lose football games. How low can this franchise go? Again, let’s remember there were also reports that former Cleveland Browns players agreed when they didn’t try to win in 2017. And former Browns head coach Hue Jackson said he was paid to lose to secure the #1 overall pick and select Baker Mayfield. But, so far, this isn’t a case against the Browns.
So, a pursuit for truth and any justice that’s warranted isn’t assured. Such is the life of a Miami Dolphins news fan. Let’s hope McDaniel is the genius he is reported to be and can rise above all the mess around him.