The Miami Dolphins are not expected to pursue Tom Brady should the seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback opt to return for a 24th NFL season, ESPN reported on Sunday.
Per the report, the Dolphins are committed to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and pleased with his development under head coach Mike McDaniel.
Brady, who will turn 46 in August, stands to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the league year.
On his “Let’s Go!” podcast with SiriusXM earlier this week, Brady went with blue material in response to Jim Gray’s question about his timeline for a decision about whether to play next season.
“Jim, if I knew what I was going to (expletive) do, I would’ve already (expletive) done it. I’m taking it a day at a time,” Brady said.
And when Gray asked if he was “antagonized by the question,” Brady said “You’re scratchy. You’re scratchy. I appreciate you asking. Thank you.”
Brady retired briefly last February, only to return to the team while going through a divorce from his supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen.
Brady previously had been linked to the Dolphins, with the NFL punishing the club last year for tampering. The league took away Miami’s first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and its third-round selection in 2024.
Whenever he finally decides to step away, Brady will conclude one of the most decorated NFL careers of all time. Among his records: most Super Bowl championships (seven), most regular-season wins by a quarterback (251), most postseason wins by a quarterback (35), most passes completed (7,753), most pass attempts (12,050), most passing yards (89,214) and most passing touchdowns (649).
He is a three-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a 15-time Pro Bowl selection.
Brady spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, then joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 season and led them to a Super Bowl championship in his first campaign.
In 2021, he led the NFL in passing yards (5,316) and passing touchdowns (43) before those numbers fell to 4,694 and 25, respectively, in 2022 as the Buccaneers went 8-9. Tampa Bay made the playoffs as the champion of the weak NFC South before getting hammered by Dallas in the wild-card round.
Tagovailoa, 24, led the NFL with a 105.5 passer rating in 2022, completing 64.8 percent of his passes for a career-high totals in yards (3,548) and touchdowns (25). He also had eight interceptions in 13 starts.
The Dolphins face a May 1 deadline to exercise the fifth-year option on Tagovailoa’s rookie contract.
Drafted No. 5 overall by Miami in 2020, Tagovailoa has passed for 8,015 yards with 52 TDs and 23 picks in 36 games (34 starts).
–Field Level Media
