‘Unprecedented’ tampering costs Dolphins draft picks

The NFL has suspended Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and fined him $1.5 million for tampering with Tom Brady and Sean Payton following a sixmonth investigation stemming from Brian Flores’s racial discrimination lawsuit against the league.

The league’s investigation found the Dolphins did not intentionally lose games during the 2019 season but the team had impermissible communication with Brady and his and Payton’s agent, Don Yee.

The Dolphins will forfeit a first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft and a third-round selection in 2024. Ross is suspended through Oct. 17.

“The investigators found tampering violations of unprecedented scope and severity,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “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. 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 Patriots.

Dolphins vice chairman/limited partner Bruce Beal Jr. 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 Yee while the quarterback was under contract to the 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.

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.

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.

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