Dolphins violation of NFL integrity another embarrassment for franchise | Schad

MIAMI GARDENS — It was a joke.

Stephen Ross said something to Brian Flores that may have included some form of the phrases "$100,000" and "lose games" during the 2019 tear-down season.

But the NFL concluded, in the end, that whatever comment the Dolphins owner made to his coach was not intended or taken to be a serious offer to Flores.

So, yes, Ross was hoping the Dolphins would lose plenty, to secure a good draft choice, ideally, in fact, Joe Burrow. But no, the league did not conclude that the Dolphins tanked games, which would have been unprecedented and explosive.

To be clear, the Dolphins made a series of moves designed to tank that season. It was a series of roster deletions that neither Flores nor Vince Lombardi would have been able to overcome.

Still, the NFL hammered the Dolphins on Tuesday.

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Miami Dolphins lose picks in 2023 and 2024 for violating NFL tampering rules

Their penalties for tampering are no joke at all. And, sadly, the findings once again result in an embarrassment for the Miami organization.

The Dolphins will lose first- and third-round picks in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Fans can't be thrilled about that, especially if a first-round pick next year is needed for a quarterback.

Was Miami found to tank games? No. But the Dolphins were found to have violated league tampering rules. Spin the wheel and see which integrity of the game violation hits today.

It's never a good thing when the former U.S. Attorney and SEC Chair conducts a six-month investigation into the integrity of the actions of your organization.

But that's exactly what happened. And yes, Mary Jo White found that the Dolphins tampered on Tom Brady (Patriots and Bucs) and Sean Payton (Saints).

It's surprising Miami didn't reach out to check on the interest of Kevin Durant to join the organization at some point in time.

It's hard to say how bad a look this is for the Dolphins. On the one hand, it made sense for the organization to have wondered if Brady would like to play quarterback for them.

Brady became starter for the Patriots in 2001. Ross became majority owner of the Dolphins in 2009.

The Dolphins have won zero playoff games since Ross became majority owner. And they've won zero playoff games since Brady became a starter.

It also made sense for them to wonder if Payton, then under contract with the Saints, would be interested in replacing Flores. After all, Payton is a proven offensive genius, while Mike McDaniel, who they hired, is an unproven one, at least as a head coach.

It's not the first time the Miami Dolphins have embarrassed themselves

But the Dolphins' actions were clearly sloppy. And sloppy is bad for business. And it's bad when investigators come asking questions.

Ross' actions when pursuing Jim Harbaugh behind Tony Sparano's back in January 2011 were embarrassing for the franchise.

There have been too many troublesome moments in general over the past 13 seasons, including the NFL's "Bullygate" investigation led by Ted Wells in 2013.

In 2017, the Dolphins had an offensive line coach, Chris Foerster, snorting white powder off a table at the team's facility, on video.

This is not to suggest Ross is directly responsible for "Bullygate" or the Foerster incident. But clearly, something has been off about Dolphins culture and a number of hires that he has made have not at all worked out.

There have been too few wins. And too many cringe-worthy moments.

Ross won't be around for the first six weeks of the 2022 season, a league decision he will not appeal. Future majority owner Bruce Beal played a significant role in the findings and is banned from league meetings for one year.

In a worst-case scenario, the league could have found that Ross truly ordered the losing of games, which could have actually resulted in forcing him to sell.

This was not the worst-case scenario. But the NFL's findings are no joke.

They are embarrassing.

It's never a good day when the NFL's commissioner cites tampering of an "unprecedented scope and severity." It's never a good day when that commissioner says he's never seen ownership so directly involved in violations.

Never. Cringe-worthy stuff. And for the Dolphins, that's all too familiar.

Joe Schad is a journalist at the Palm Beach Post part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at jschad@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: NFL punishment of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross another embarrassment