Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley shared an update on running back De’Von Achane’s health at the start of a Wednesday press conference.
Achane has not been a full participant in the team’s offseason program and Hafley said that is because he had his shoulder “cleaned up” earlier this offseason. Achane missed the final game of the 2025 season because of the injury and Hafley said the team is bringing him along cautiously as they head toward training camp.
“He’s rehabbing right now, he’s doing well,” Hafley said. “You’ll see him out there doing some drills and doing some running around. You just will not see him in full team drills.”
The Dolphins signed Achane to a four-year, $64 million contract extension this month and it’s unlikely they would have taken that plunge while harboring reservations about his overall fitness, so Achane should be moving full speed ahead once the Dolphins need him.
Tuesday’s decision by the Supreme Court to not accept the NFL’s petition for appeal in the Brian Flores case means that all of his claims will be decided in court, not in arbitration.
And Flores recently added some new factual allegations to the various legal theories raised in his four-year-old litigation against the league and various teams.
In the third amendment to his initial civil complaint, Flores has added specific allegations of retaliation against the NFL.
The 483-paragraph, 106-page document includes at paragraphs 298 through 312 allegations that the NFL has retaliated against Flores since the filing of his initial lawsuit.
“Despite it being widely understood by the public and sports media that Mr. Flores should be considered one of the elite Head Coach candidates, Mr. Flores has not been offered a Head Coach job since starting this lawsuit,” the new complaint alleges at paragraph 311.
From paragraph 312 of the new complaint: “The NFL teams’ failure to hire Mr. Flores is consistent with an NFL Head Coach hiring process that is [sic] has for decades treated Black candidates disparately to white candidates and led to significantly disparate impact. It is also consistent with a culture of retaliation in which NFL teams close ranks against those who raise complaints of discrimination.”
The new factual allegations did not result in an additional cause of action; the existing lawsuit already includes multiple specific claims for retaliation.
As to the concept of retaliation based on the failure of teams to hire Flores as its head coach, the current complaint lists only one team — the Texans. In 2022, Houston made Flores one of three finalists for the job (along with Josh McCown and Jonathan Gannon) before hiring Lovie Smith instead. Flores claims that the decision to not hire him was motivated by the filing of his lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams.
Although no specific other teams have been accused of failing to hire Flores in retaliation for filing and pursuing his lawsuit, the discovery process could lead to evidence that would support a finding that Flores was not given proper consideration by one or more teams with vacancies during the 2023, 2024, 2025, and/or 2026 hiring cycles.
The contention that the NFL maintains a “culture of retaliation” shows that Flores suspects his failure to get more interviews and/or any offers resulted from retaliation. Time will tell whether other specific teams are added to the case as defendants.
Flores’s current claims target the Dolphins, Texans, Broncos, and Giants. (His co-plaintiffs, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, have sued the Cardinals and Titans, respectively.)
Obviously, Flores won’t be able to force any team to hire him. His aggressive legal arguments won’t make that any easier. Throughout the litigation, however, he has chosen doing what he believes is right over what would be expedient for his career.
And so he’ll continue to serve as Minnesota’s defensive coordinator, while waiting for a head-coaching opportunity that may never materialize. In the end, the NFL and/or specific teams could be on the wrong end of a verdict that requires them to pay Flores as if he has been a head coach since 2022.
Even if Flores never becomes a head coach again.
Running back De’Von Achane signed a four-year contract extension with the Dolphins this month, but he’s not taking the long view when it comes to the Dolphins turning into a winning team.
The Dolphins have made a coaching change, parted ways with several veterans, traded wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and taken a major cap hit by releasing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa since the end of the 2025 season. That’s led to many dire predictions about the team’s chances this fall, but Achane told former teammate Terron Armstead on The Set podcast that he doesn’t see things the same way.
“I’m not trying to hear ‘we rebuilding for two years,’” Achane said. “I ain’t trying to do it. Most definitely, I want to win the division, we gotta win the playoff game. I ain’t even going to say we’re going be trying to win the championship, but we just got to get those things first.”
The extension and the offseason changes have pushed Achane into a veteran leadership role heading into his fourth season and he’d like to be leading his team to a better than expected record once that season is underway.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal in the case brought by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores (and Steve Wilks and Ray Horton). The decision allows his case to proceed in court — and, in theory, to culminate with a public trial.
Both sides have issued comments in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review,” a league spokesperson said. “Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”
Said Flores’s lawyers: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal. The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams. We look forward to litigating these claims in court.”
Obviously, the league wants the forum to be its in-house arbitration process. It keeps things secret, and it tips the scales of justice in the league’s favor.
But, no, the NFL won’t suddenly surrender. It will aggressively challenge Flores at every turn, with the goal of securing a victory without having to take the case to trial.
When will that happen? It could take months. Maybe years. After all, it took nearly 52 months to get the case past the threshold question of whether the claims will be resolved in court or in arbitration.
When the Dolphins claimed defensive tackle James Ester off waivers, it looked like an attempt to add some depth to the defensive line, which is where Ester has always played in the NFL, in college and in high school. But Ester’s best chance of making the Dolphins’ roster will be on offense.
Ester is listed as a guard on the Dolphins’ official roster.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported when Ester was claimed that the Dolphins could use him at guard, and that’s where he was playing at Organized Team Activities, at least for the portion of practice that was open to the media.
Ester was a defensive lineman at Cass Tech High School in Detroit, for all five of his seasons at Northern Illinois, and for the last two years as a member of the Packers’ practice squad.
But he never got on the field for a regular-season game in Green Bay, and Dolphins G.M. Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, who were both previously with the Packers, apparently saw something that made them think he may have what it takes to make it as an offensive lineman. The 6-foot-3, 289-pound Ester will be a long shot to make the team, but with NFL rosters at 90 players during the offseason, it’s worth taking some time to give a talented player a look at a new position. That’s what the Dolphins will do with Ester.
