The Miami Dolphins Will Not Have a First-Round Pick at the 2023 NFL Draft
Published April 27 2023, 11:49 a.m. ET
The day that dreams come true has finally arrived; that's right, the 2023 NFL draft is upon us, and we couldn't be more excited to see how everything plays out. But before the fun begins on April 27, we want to dive deeper into the drama surrounding the Miami Dolphins.
In a shocking turn of events, the Dolphins were forced to forfeit a 2023 and 2024 draft pick — what happened? Why did Miami lose a draft pick? Here's everything we know about the organization's troubles.
Why did Miami lose a draft pick?
On Aug. 2, 2022, the NFL announced that the Miami Dolphins would forfeit their 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick because the team violated league policies "relating to the integrity of the game."
The announcement followed an intense six-month investigation covering events from 2019-2022 and focused on two subjects: Tampering and "tanking" to improve draft position. The investigation "conclusively established" that Miami had "impermissible communications" with superstar quarterback Tom Brady in 2019-20 when he was a New England Patriot and again in 2021 when he was a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.
The investigation also found that Miami had "impermissible communications" with Don Yee, the agent of former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton about having him serve as Miami's head coach. Miami did not "seek consent from New Orleans" to have these conversations with Coach Payton.
Tom Brady and Sean Payton didn't face any punishments, but Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was fined $1.5 million, removed from all NFL committees indefinitely, and banned from attending any league meeting prior to the annual one in 2023. He was also suspended until Oct. 17, 2022.
The lengthy investigation further concluded that the Miami Dolphins didn't intentionally lose games during the 2019 season to improve the team's draft position, "nor did anyone at the club, including Mr. Ross, instruct Coach Flores to do so."