Before he announced his retirement on Feb. 1, there was speculation that Tom Brady would look to continue his career outside of Tampa Bay.
The San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins were the clubs mostly linked to the Brady sweepstakes before he called it quits for a second time. With Brady (seemingly) committed to retirement, however, Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa seemingly doesn’t have to worry about his job.
But as pointed out by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Brady wouldn’t exactly rule out the idea of playing for Miami when he was specifically asked if there was a chance he’d join the AFC East club.
Florio also suggested that Tagovailoa should tell the seven-time Super Bowl champion and three-time league MVP to stop talking about his job as Miami’s starting quarterback:
Enter Tua. As I told Joe Rose yesterday morning on WQAM in Miami, it’s disrespectful to Tua for Brady to talk about Tua’s job so nonchalantly. It’s especially disrespectful for Brady to do it given the history.
Throughout 2021 (until the trade deadline came and went), Tua had to deal with the possibility of the Dolphins trading for Deshaun Watson. As one source explained it not long after the 2021 season ended, former Dolphins coach Brian Flores was “fixated” on getting Watson.
Also after the 2021 season, it became obvious that Brady wanted to become the Miami quarterback for 2022, a process of tampering that culminated in the Dolphins not having a first-round pick in five days, when the 2023 draft commences…
It’s also now important for Tua to get word to Tommy to shut the f–k up about Tua’s job. It would be great to see Tua show that kind of fire. And he’d be fully justified in doing it.
Whether Brady is keeping the door open or simply trying to keep people guessing, it’s wrong for him to create the impression that he’s still sniffing around Tua’s job. It’s one thing for someone like me to say that publicly. It’s quite another for Tua to say it directly to Brady.
And Tua absolutely should. Even though Brady is Tua’s elder, by more than two decades.”
The Dolphins were penalized by the NFL after a league investigation determined that they committed tampering by speaking to Brady and Sean Payton while they were under contract. Miami was docked a 2023 first and 2024 second-round pick, and owner Stephen Ross was fined $1.5 million and suspended over the incident.
Tagovailoa went 8-5 as Miami’s starter and helped them to a playoff appearance in 2022. Quite frankly, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to give up on him after a career year. But for a variety of reasons, his early success hasn’t been enough to quiet down the rumors about Miami potentially looking for a new quarterback.
