Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. Allen Eyestone / USA TODAY NETWORK

Report: NFL to investigate Brian Flores’ tanking claim about Dolphins

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 2/2/22

Brian Flores made numerous troubling allegations in his lawsuit that was filed on Tuesday. The NFL intends to investigate some of these claims, according to a report.

The NFL was one of the defendants named in Flores’ class action suit. The other defendants included the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos.

Flores’ central claim was that he is the victim of racial discrimination and that the Giants held a sham interview with him after already deciding on hiring Brian Daboll as their head coach.

Flores also alleged that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him money to lose games during the 2019 season in order for Miami to improve its draft position. Flores additionally alleged that Ross tried to get him to violate league rules with an illegal meeting with Tom Brady.

The NFL reportedly will be investigating these claims.

The NFL will investigate the specific allegations that Brian Flores has made concerning Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offering him $100,000 per-loss incentives in 2019 to gain a better draft position, a league source said. Other potential rules violations also will be investigated.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) February 2, 2022

It’s no surprise that the NFL will be investigating these alarming claims.

If they have proof that the Dolphins tampered with a player, they will likely punish the team. Worse yet, if the NFL finds proof that the Dolphins tried to bribe Flores to lose games, there will likely be severe punishment. The league takes the issue of competitive integrity seriously.

Some people have pointed out that the NFL immediately responded to Flores’ lawsuit and said it was “without merit.” That opens the question of why the league is also taking Flores’ claims seriously enough to investigate. The reason is easy to see so long as you can differentiate what the league was saying is “without merit.”

The NFL believes the legal claims against them are without merit. The league was not accused by Flores of tanking or tampering; the Dolphins were. The league is the party that is responsible for investigating such claims. The league is calling the allegation of systemic racism/racial discrimination one “without merit.”

Of course, the league can claim the allegations are "without merit" as much as it wants. At this point, that will be decided by the courts.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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