With Tua Tagovailoa’s immediate future up in the air after he suffered a concussion on Thursday, the Miami Dolphins could look to add a quarterback. If that happens, there’s only one name that makes sense: Tom Brady.
Well, that’s what several former NFL players think.
Former Steelers quarterback Devlin “Duck” Hodges, who started six games for Pittsburgh in 2019, is convinced Brady is going to take his talents to South Beach and sign with the Dolphins.
It’s also worth noting that Brady’s former teammate, Darius Butler, seems to be pushing for the quarterback to sign with the Dolphins.
Butler posted a picture of Brady in a Dolphins’ jersey after Miami’s 31-10 loss to the Bills on Thursday night.
Right now, Brady is busy with his day job
The retired NFL legend currently has a job with Fox that he just started this year. The seven-time Super Bowl winner was in the booth for the first time ever during the Cowboys’ 33-17 win over the Browns in Week 1. Although the idea of Brady giving up his announcing job to make an NFL return at age 47 might seemed far-fetched, it’s not completely crazy and here are three reasons why.
Brady said he’d be open to a return. During an interview in April, Brady was asked if he’d think about coming out of retirement if a team needed him due to an injury to their starting quarterback. “I’m not opposed to it,” Brady said at the time. “I don’t know if they’re gonna let me, if I become an owner of an NFL team, but I don’t know if — I don’t know, I’m always gonna be in good shape, (I’ll) always be able to throw the ball. So to come in for a little bit, like M.J. coming back? I don’t know if they’d let me, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it.”
The Dolphins already went after Brady once. The Dolphins got hammered by the NFL in 2022 after a league investigation found that the team had been tampering with Brady. The Dolphins wanted him badly enough that they were willing to skirt NFL rules to get him. Brady was actually asked in April 2023 about coming out of retirement to play for the Dolphins and he didn’t say no.
Also, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has close ties to Brady and one of those ties is that they both went to Michigan.
If Ross were to call Brady, there’s a good chance the retired star would at least pick up the phone. And let’s not forget, Brady lives in the area, so it would be pretty easy for the free agent QB to have a meeting with Ross without anyone knowing.
Tyreek Hill has always wanted to play with Brady. If Brady is going to return, it’s not going to be with just any team, he’d need a team that already has some offensive weapons in place and the Dolphins have that. One of those weapons is Tyreek Hill, and the speedy receiver recently said he would love to play with Brady at some point, “Damn, I wish I was on his team,” Hill said when describing what went through his head when he once played against Brady.
Brady has said he would come out of retirement, the owner has always wanted him, and the Dolphins’ best player has always wanted to play with him. Those are three solid reasons why you’ll likely hear Brady’s name connected to the Dolphins over the next few weeks.
On the other hand, the argument against Brady is that he’s 47 years old, he already has a well-paying job, and he’d have to learn a completely new offense in a short time, which he likely wouldn’t love since he’s a perfectionist. Also, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel said Friday that the team is confident in Skylar Thompson to fill-in while Tagovailoa is out.
“The best way to articulate where we’re at is that the team and the organization are very confident in Skylar,” McDaniel said. “There was a reason he was our backup quarterback. That being said, we’ll bring in someone. We’re just evaluating the pros and cons for the different situations and getting through all those possibilities to do what’s the best thing for the team. As it stands today I’m expecting that Skylar is the next man up.”
Although McDaniel is backing Thompson, he certainly seems to be keeping the door open in case the Dolphins find a better option at quarterback, you know, like Brady. Speaking of options at QB, we came up with a list of five quarterbacks the Dolphins could look into adding, and you can check out that list here.
