NFL free agency: 1 team is already out on Tom Brady

Tom Brady hasn’t said whether or not he’ll return to the NFL in 2023, but one team has already opted out of the possibility of signing him.

The Miami Dolphins were penalized months ago for tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and currently-retired head coach Sean Payton. Now, though, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, they’re already uninterested in the veteran quarterback as a free agent option, assuming he doesn’t retire this offseason.

Since the Dolphins purportedly tampered with Brady, the team hired Mike McDaniel to be the franchise’s new head coach and qualified for postseason play for the first time since 2016, losing to their division-rival Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round.

Miami, according to Schefter, is excited to move forward with Tua Tagovailoa who performed well when healthy in 2022. The health is a significant conditional, though, considering Tagovailoa suffered multiple concussions. His health took center stage early in the season because he was taken off-field on a stretcher and hospitalized for several hours due to a concussion.

Tagovailoa, still, is out of football activities due to a concussion that was detected late in the regular season.

Tom Brady’s future uncertain, and Dolphins don’t want in

In a vacuum, moving forward with a talented young quarterback who has proven winning ability over an aging quarterback is the right choice.

But of course, it is Tom Brady. And on the flip side, Tagovailoa’s concussion history is, at best, a reason to move forward cautiously.

Brady showed mortality for the first time this past season. The Bucs qualified for postseason play but were eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round. He finished with the first losing season as a starting quarterback of his career.

He briefly retired before changing his mind last season. Now, if he comes back, it looks like it’ll be somewhere other than Tampa Bay. With Miami out and Jacksonville playing well under another young quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, it seems as if Brady’s next team will be outside the state of Florida.

Brady, while a Patriot, tortured the Dolphins and the rest of the AFC East on an annual basis.