Opinion: Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has to do better

In the end, with it all now clear from the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, and owner Stephen Ross got what they deserved.

We can argue all we want about whether or not the discipline and penalties handed down were just or unjust. We can compare them to other fines and discipline handed out over the years for alleged and proven cheating but in the end, Stephen Ross should have known better but didn’t care.

Stephen Ross got caught. He and Bruce Beal both got caught. They stood in the front of the picture and didn’t even try to hide the fact that they were working on getting Tom Brady. And they almost succeeded if it weren’t for that meddling former head coach.

The truth of it all is that Stephen Ross has to be better. He has to be a better owner. He has to hold himself accountable. Frankly, he should be apologizing to his fanbase.

Bruce Beal and Stephen Ross sat on a yacht with Brian Flores and tried to convince him to meet with Tom Brady. Why? Why are you so misplaced in your judgment that you would include your HC in the plan? An HC that wasn’t buying into your tanking suggestions no less.

Brian Flores was Ross’ mistake from the start. Someone didn’t do their due diligence on him but apparently, they all thought they could manipulate him. Maybe they figured after so many Patriot scandals, Flores knew how it all worked and was down with anything.

Boy oh boy were they wrong.

The reality of all this is simple. Stephen Ross tried to cheat. His ownership successor tried to cheat. They got caught. They should never have been in that place, to begin with, and if the rumors are true about Beal being the guy to initiate it all, then he should just be banned from the league.

It’s tough love today. Inevitably, Mike McDaniel and his team will suffer because they will have one less draft pick in 2023 and one less in 2024. Once again the players and coaches are dealing with the failures of the ownership, the black eye that they simply didn’t need. But again, they did bring this upon themselves.

That is the one factor that can’t be tossed out, they did it. There is no question they did it. In fact, does anyone think for a minute that the only thing regarding the $100K per-game-per-loss bribe was evidence? Like, actual evidence?

Stephen Ross made another mistake and if he can’t turn this franchise into a winner, his ownership will be nothing more than a series of events that could have been prevented. Sorry, there is a lot to like about Ross as an owner especially when you look at teams that will not spend money on players. Ross wants to win, apparently at any cost but everything has a price and again, the Dolphins are paying for it and Dolphins fans have to endure the ridicule.