David Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel is reporting that Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross made an offer of 5 years $100 million to Sean Payton for Payton to be the next head coach of the Dolphins. An assistant coach who was going to come to Miami with Payton confirmed this. The deal was never “formally” offered as Payton was under contract to the Saints. But through backchannel negotiations that is the term of the deal, both sides agreed on.
The contract would have made Sean Payton the second-highest head coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick.
Per the report, Dolphins owner-in-waiting Bruce Beal recruited Brady, who wanted a proven coach, and recruited Payton. They headlined a cast of assembled talent. Vic Fangio was the Dolphins’ choice as defensive coordinator, a source said, giving them one of the top defensive minds to work with a developing unit.
It was all coming together by late January to the point other assistants were calling football friends in South Florida, asking practical matters of moving here like where they should live. One assistant who was to be hired said, “It was pretty much done for us to come.”
Per the report, Miami was ready to offer the Saints a first-round pick for Sean Payton and in turn offer Tampa Bay a 2nd round pick for Tom Brady.
The Brian Flores lawsuit vs Ross and the Dolphins changed everything though. Some think Flores got wind of this deal that was about to go down and filed the lawsuit to break this up knowing Payton and Brady wouldn’t want to go to a dysfunctional organization in the midst of a game-fixing investigation and legal matter.
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