In 2021, the Miami Dolphins came nail-bitingly close to making one of the biggest blockbuster moves in the team's history.
For months, speculation of a major trade seemed to be moments away from being finalized. Then-head coach Brian Flores was pounding the desk of Chris Grier to get a deal done, a trade for Deshaun Watson that would give him the quarterback he needed to win Super Bowls.
Grier wasn't buying into it; he wasn't ready, but as he has always done, he listened to what his coach wanted and tried to swing a deal. Then Stephen Ross got involved, and it seemed like a slam dunk that when Dolphins fans woke up on the morning of the 2021 NFL trade deadline, a deal would be done.
Ross spent time on the phone talking with Watson, but ultimately, his conversation was more of an apology for not making the trade. The deadline passed, Watson remained in Houston, and the Dolphins stuck with Tua Tagovailoa. At the end of the year, Brian Flores no longer held the job of head coach. Some still believe the failure to trade for Watson was the spark that ignited the distancing within the organization as it relates to Flores.
Dolphins avoided the worst trade in NFL history by not caving acquiring Deshaun Watson
Watson, of course, would be traded the following offseason to the Cleveland Browns, and now, three years after that, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is giving Ross the validation he never got when he opted at the last minute to pass on the quarterback.
RELATED: Mike McDaniel's bizarre Tyreek Hill comments only add to the trade drama
The NFL owners are meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, this week. On Monday, Haslam said the Browns "took a big swing and miss" on Watson. That is a huge statement to make, especially as Watson is still under contract in Cleveland.
For all the things the Dolphins have done over the years, from "bully-gate" to "tamper-gate," they did manage to avoid a catastrophic trade that would have brought a quarterback surrounded by on- and off-field controversy.
Stephen Ross doesn't win much, but his decision to not bring Watson...that wasn't a miss, that was a home run.