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In response to our report (and the reporting of others) that Tom Brady was poised to become a minority owner of the Dolphins until the Brian Flores lawsuit pulled the plug on the possibility, it has been pointed out that at least 24 owners would have had to approve the sale of a slice of the Dolphins to Brady.
Of course approval of the league would have been required. It always is in situations like this. And as a league source with intimate knowledge of the dynamics of the process tells PFT, there is “zero doubt” Brady would have been approved.
First, it’s Tom Freaking Brady. The greatest player in league history. He’s going to buy a piece of the Dolphins, and nine or more owners are going to tell him no? Sure, Jan.
Second, and as the source explained it, below a certain level these sales of slivers of franchises to minority owners are rubber stamped by the NFL’s finance committee and, in turn, easily passed by ownership.
Concerns have been expressed that the financial gains arising from an ownership stake would be regarded as a circumvention of the salary cap. Hogwash. It’s apples and oranges. As long as the player (and in Brady’s case he was retired, until he wasn’t) pays fair value for the percentage of the team he would have been buying, there’s no cap issue if/when the equity appreciates in value.
That said, we get it. Some reporters missed the boat on reporting the Brady connection to the Dolphins. Instead of ignoring it completely (as plenty are), others are looking for ways to knock it down.
To them we say this: Keep trying. Brady was indeed poised to buy a slice of the Dolphins after he retired from the Buccaneers, and the transaction would have been approved.
