The Dolphins need a new starting quarterback.
Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion during the Dolphins' "Thursday Night Football" loss to the Bills at Hard Rock Stadium. Tagovailoa's head connected with the chest of Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin, knocking him to the ground and forcing him out of the game.
It's the third concussion in the last two seasons for the Miami lefty, putting at the very least his 2024 season into doubt. That means Miami is on the market for a new signal caller.
While Skylar Thompson is the tentative starter for the team, head coach Mike McDaniel said on Friday the team would be assessing all options and adding a player to the roster . That means looking at free agent quarterbacks.
He may be retired, but, of course, with any QB job opening up, speculation has begun about a potential return of Tom Brady. The longtime Patriots star has connections with the Dolphins and has hinted at coming back more than once .
Could Brady join the Dolphins? Here's what you need to know.
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Could Tom Brady join the Dolphins?
When Tagovailoa went down, the speculation on who the Dolphins could go after immediately sent social media ablaze. From former Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill to current backups like Josh Dobbs, any and all options were thrown out there.
That includes Brady, as his former teammate Darius Butler threw a photoshopped image of Brady in a Dolphins uniform on X, formerly Twitter.
He wasn't the only one. Former NFL quarterback Devlin Hodges had the same exact thought as well.
While it may seem far-fetched, Brady has history with the Dolphins — and not just beating the Miami club as a member of New England.
Brady and Dolphins owner Stephen Ross have a relationship. The two share the same alma mater (University of Michigan) and have been in talks before about Brady joining Ross' Dolphins.
In 2021, Miami was penalized by the NFL for improperly communicating with Brady, who was still under contract with Tampa Bay at the time. Ross was suspended and the Dolphins were forced to give up two draft picks. The premise of the conversations was about Brady potentially becoming a player-owner of the team — holding a financial stake in the organization while also playing on Sundays.
It was reported that Ross initially began his recruitment of Brady in 2019, but he was unsuccessful in his attempts.
So could a second run at Brady be in the works? That is highly unlikely due to Brady's involvement with the Raiders as a pending owner.
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Tom Brady Raiders ownership, explained
Brady doesn't own the Raiders, but he is expected to purchase a stake in the team soon. The former Buccaneers and Patriots star is part of a group hoping to purchase a 10-percent share of the Raiders.
Brady would own about seven percent of the Raiders as part of his purchase, per Sportico .
The deal struck between Brady's group and Raiders owner Mark Davis is simply awaiting NFL approval to come through. Many believed that could have happened at the owners' meetings in March 2024, but the league has yet to approve the sale.
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Earlier this month, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that Brady's "approval as a limited partner could be voted on and approved by league ownership as early as October, but there is also a possibility it is done at the December labor seminar and Special League Meeting."
The expectation is that Brady's ownership will be approved "by the time the 2024 season concludes."
So what is stopping Brady from owning the Raiders and playing for the Dolphins? For starters, he is in his first season as a broadcaster for Fox, joining Kevin Burkhardt on the network's top team. In addition, he would need approval from the rest of the league.
When the news first popped up about the future Hall of Famer joining the Las Vegas ownership group as a player-owner, ESPN's Jeff Darlington pointed out a league rule that states that all 32 teams would have to approve a player suiting up for a team that they have a financial interest in.
Brady would need to receive league-wide approval if he wanted to return to the field — and it's hard to imagine all the teams giving the OK on that, especially the Raiders.
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