The Brady-to-Miami scenario raised by a Patriots insider? Dolphins players weigh in.
The speculation of the unfathomable began in late October, when ESPN insider Adam Schefter said on air that Tom Brady staying in New England, after 20 years there, might be the least likely scenario next season.
And this week marked the first time that a credible Patriots reporter — NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran — made the case for why Brady could end up with the Dolphins in 2020.
Though Curran made clear on Rich Eisen’s radio show that he was merely giving “an informed opinion,” Curran said: “What would be ideal?... He wants to be able to prove something to somebody who thought that he couldn’t do something, that he was unable to continue at a level.
“And that’s why I keep coming back to the Miami Dolphins as a possibility. You’ve got your Michigan man, friend, Stephen Ross, in charge. It’s got Jerry Schlupinski as quarterbacks coach, Chad O’Shea as your offensive coordinator, Brian Flores as the head coach. It’s got defensive personnel. It’s certainly got a culture that I think is being instilled this year.”
The Dolphins player who has been around him the most, former Patriots cornerback Eric Rowe, said he would be “100 percent surprised” if Brady changed teams.
“Everybody would be ‘oh snap. Tom on a new team.’ That just looks weird,” Rowe said. “He’s been the face of New England 20 years. That would be a shock to the world.” But if it did happen, “anybody would be excited to get him.”
Rowe will always remember his first encounter with Brady, in 2016. Rowe had been traded from the Eagles to the Patriots on Sept. 7, during the first week of Brady’s four-week suspension for his role in “Deflategate.”
“That end of Week 4, when he came back in, I passed by him and he said, ‘Hey Eric what’s up.’ Second year in the league, I wasn’t with him in camp; I was in camp with Philly. I get there; he’s not there the first four weeks so he’s never seen me before and he’s like, ‘What’s up, Eric? How you doing?’ I’m like ‘You know my name?’ Dang. Great guy.”
Right tackle Jesse Davis made clear his allegiance is to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is under contract next season and said: “It’s kind of hard to top Fitz. I don’t care how many wins you have. They have their own package up there and we have ours…. [But] it wouldn’t surprise me if [Brady] moved on. He could probably take his pick wherever he wants to go to. It definitely would be interesting to get a chance to work with the guy. He has a lot of value he can bring to an organization.”
Linebacker Sam Eguavoen said: “That’s the GOAT [greatest of all time], Tom Brady. That would be something cool, to tell my kid I got to play with Tom Brady. [But] I can’t see it happening.”
All of the legitimate Super Bowl contenders — even all of the likely playoff teams — seem set at quarterback. So if Brady decides to play elsewhere, the Dolphins and Chargers could end up being his best options.
One hypothetical scenario for the Dolphins would be pairing Brady with Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa while Tagovailoa recovers from hip surgery.
Of his belief that Brady could leave New England, Schefter said in October that: “These are his acts that he’s put into motion… If he’s selling his house, his trainer is selling his house, and he’s voiding his contract, doesn’t that tell you something? I would just say there are three options: He’s either staying in New England, he’s retiring or he’s going to play somewhere else. I would think of those three, that staying in New England, to me, would seem like the least likely option of the three. But we’ll see.”
Brady, 42, has experienced a drop in all key statistics this season, while playing with a middling group of receivers and tight ends, aside from Julian Edelman.
He’s completing 60.5 percent of his passes, down from 63.9 in his career. His 86.5 passer rating would be his worst since 2008 and well below his 97 career average. He has 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Dolphins would still have a lot of cap space, likely $100 million plus remaining, even if they gave Brady, say, $25 million to play for them for one year. Both Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen are under contract to the Dolphins for 2020.
THIS AND THAT
With four cornerbacks on injured reserve (Xavien Howard, Ryan Lewis, Ken Webster and Aqib Talib), the Dolphins have four experienced cornerbacks on their 53-man roster: Nik Needham, Jomal Wiltz (who has played a lot in the slot), Rowe (who has been a safety the past two months) and punt/kickoff returner George Sherels.
In the past week, the Dolphins added two cornerbacks with no NFL regular-season experience: Texas State rookie Nate Brooks (from the Patriots’ practice squad) and Linden Stephens (off Seattle’s practice squad).
Needham indicated one of those two new players likely “will have to play and start.” Rowe remained at safety Wednesday.
“We’ll have enough,” Flores said.
▪ Receivers DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson remain in concussion protocol and were limited participants in practice. Needham (groin) and fullback Chandler Cox (shoulder) were also limited... Receiver Allen Hurns (ankle/knee) and defensive tackle Gerald Willis (hip) did not practice.
▪ Guard Michael Deiter said the team told him he didn’t start last week because he needs “to play better.” Deiter said: “I am confident I can help us win, but need to do it more consistently.” Rookie Keaton Sutherland, who replaced Deiter at left guard, said Sutherland was not with the starters during Wednesday’s practice.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 3:22 PM.
