Tom Brady has retired, and the Miami Dolphins have committed contractually to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the next two seasons.
Still, it hasn’t stopped Brady from fielding questions about whether he’ll join the Dolphins after both sides flirted with the possibility several years ago.
Brady, the keynote speaker at global technology conference eMerge Americas in Miami on Thursday, did not give a definite answer to the question, posed by a host for the event.
“Is there any chance you’re coming out of retirement and playing for the Fins?” one host asked.
“I will say now that I’m not affiliated with any team anymore, even though I have strong ties with a couple teams, I do have some friends on the Dolphins that I really like,” Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion, said.
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“So, I wouldn’t say I necessarily root for them all the time, but I root for my friends to do well, and several of them play for Miami.”
It wasn’t a yes. And it wasn’t a no.
Instead, Brady filibustered the best he could.
Even though Brady retired for the second time this February, the Brady-to-the-Dolphins speculation lingers again because of a friendly question during a keynote interview.
One day earlier, Tagovailoa said he mulled retirement in conversations with his family before deciding to continue his NFL career.
The Dolphins committed to Tagovailoa for the next two seasons by agreeing to honor his fifth-year contract option for the 2024 season, despite Tagovailoa suffering at least two concussions last season.
“I think I considered it for a time, having sat down with my family, my wife and having those conversations,’ Tagovailoa said during a news conference. “Really, it would be hard for me to walk away from this game with how old I am, with my son. I always dreamed of playing as long as I could so my son could know what he was watching his dad do.
“It’s my health. It’s my body. I feel like this is what’s best for me and my family. I love the game of football. If I didn’t, I would’ve quit a long time ago.”
The Dolphins don’t have a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft next week, nor do they have a third-round pick in 2024, due to an NFL investigation last August that found Miami tampered with both Brady and new Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton.
The NFL found Miami and Brady discussed him “becoming a limited partner in the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football executive, although at times they also included the possibility of his playing for the Dolphins.”
None of that transpired though, in part thanks to the lawsuit raised by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, who sued the NFL and several teams alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices.
Flores alleged in his lawsuit that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 to lose games, in order to tank during the 2019 season and improve draft position. The NFL’s investigation did not find evidence to support this claim.
If Tagovailoa’s concussion issues persists or another situation arises, perhaps both Brady and the Dolphins explore their options together.