Kelly: Dolphins can’t continue settling when it comes to franchise’s future | Opinion
Ever wonder what could have been, do a dance with revisionist history?
A deal that nearly got pulled off? A relationship — either business or love — that almost happened if not for some unforeseen circumstances?
Sean Payton and Tom Brady flirted with the idea of teaming up together for one more championship run.
Brady’s life was in a whirlwind because of divorce, and his time in Tampa was coming to an end.
Payton had just resigned from his position as New Orleans’ top executive and football coach, and the two discussed the idea of uniting in Miami, coaching and maybe playing for the Miami Dolphins.
Payton was down, otherwise the conversations with his agent wouldn’t have even taken place. All Miami needed to do is figure out the contract, and how to handle the compensation New Orleans would eventually need to grant Payton his release.
Brady wasn’t ready to accept his $30 million-plus annual salary from Fox to join the media. His competitive juices were still firing at 45.
The Dolphins initially slow-dragged the team’s coaching search that offseason new part-owner Bruce Beal would reel in the big fish for the franchise.
Sometimes I wonder what could have been if owner Steve Ross didn’t get caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and everyone involved in Tampergate didn’t have to scatter like roaches when the lights came on because of the Brian Flores lawsuit.
Imagine what could have been if Miami didn’t back out of paying Flories the remaining two years on his fully guaranteed contract because he wouldn’t sign a nondisparagement agreement, and the coach Ross fired didn’t go scorched earth on the franchise and the NFL, filing a class action lawsuit that threatened to expose all the little dirty secrets about how NFL teams tank, tamper and allegedly set minority coaches and executives up for failure.
The lawsuit has dragged on for four seasons while the NFL and the Dolphins fight to keep it in arbitration. With the exception of how to handle Flores’ contract, which courts rule needs to be handled in house, the lawsuit is moving forward, and it should.
Flores and all his co-defendants have a solid case, but what if Ross’ and Beal’s tampering and backdoor dealings — which got both suspended from the NFL for a short period, fined $1.5 million in total and cost the franchise a 2023 first-round pick and 2024 fourth-rounder — would have succeeded?
What if those draft picks were simply given to the Saints for Payton, and Tampa for Brady?
Then we wouldn’t have to pretend like Mike McDaniel, who wasn’t interviewed for another job even though eight other teams were searching for a head coach that January and February, was the team’s first choice for the seat he now holds as Dolphins head coach, which is getting hotter with each loss.
Maybe Miami moved on from Tua Tagovailoa and general manager Chris Grier as well.
Even though McDaniel led the rebuild he inherited from Flores to two straight playoff berths, and the Dolphins own the 10th-best record since the 2020 Draft, and the sixth-best record since 2020 when Tagovailoa starts games, we have to wonder what could have been if Miami landed the target they were penalized for tampering with.
Payton took the Denver Broncos to the playoffs in his second season at the helm of that team, and he’s one season and two games into grooming a young quarterback [Bo Nix] most experts didn’t think was worthy of the first-round pick the Broncos used to draft.
The Broncos quickly pivoted off Russell Wilson, eating his burdensome salary in 2024, and pushed the franchise forward as if pressing the fast forward button on a VCR.
The Broncos are 1-1 this season, and there’s no guarantee they’re a better franchise than Miami, which put up 70 points on Payton’s Broncos in that glorious 70-20 win of 2023, where Merciful Mike was second-guessed for not running up the score more, setting an NFL record.
But that was two years ago, and heading into Thursday night’s nationally televised game against the Buffalo Bills, the reigning five-time AFC East division champions, we have to wonder if this is McDaniel’s swan song.
Hard to imagine he survives the weekend if the 0-2 Dolphins get embarrassed by Buffalo, and the same issues that have plagued the 2025 Dolphins impact the team’s performance Thursday.
No matter how this season, and his tenure ends, McDaniel can hold his head up high because he hasn’t embarrassed the franchise. He just hasn’t led them to the heights he promised.
And I can’t help but wonder if Payton, and maybe Brady would have if Ross’ backdoor dealings had panned out, and he wasn’t forced to settle.
Hopefully there’s a lesson to be learned from these past four seasons, and the seven years of this rebuild, which started in 2019 and left the franchise exactly where it started.
Let me suggest we stop settling.
