Dolphins owner Stephen Ross recently said he was offered close to $15 billion for the team.
Coincidentally, I recently received an offer close to $15 billion for PFT.
It’s easy. Anyone can say anything about any offer they did, or didn’t, get, for anything. The question is whether it’s true.
One source with direct knowledge of the value of teams doesn’t buy that someone wanted to buy the Dolphins for that much money. (The most recent team that changed hands was the Commanders, at just over $6 billion.) The more realistic view is that someone like Ken Griffin likely offered Ross something in the range of $10 billion to $11 billion for the team and the stadium. If the Miami F1 race is included, another $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion could be added to that. (An employee of Griffin’s company, Citadel, advises PFT that Griffin has not made any offers or attempts to purchase the Dolphins since 2023.)
The broader point is this: Ross can do whatever he wants with the team he owns. He bought it. It’s his. He was required to pass no test to buy the team. He simply had to show up with the biggest bag of cash.
If he wants (and if the estate taxes can be satisfied without selling the team), Ross can keep it in the family. He can appoint whoever he wants to run it. And that person — currently, his son-in-law Daniel Sillman — will be required to pass no test to own and operate the team.
That’s true of every NFL franchise. The fans are stuck with the owner. As 49ers owner Jed York once said, owners can’t be fired.
Plenty of the bad teams stay bad for a reason. The dysfunction flows from the top. The cycle of G.M. and coach firings and hirings masks the reality that the owners can’t be fired or hired.
Ultimately, it’s the luck of the draw for the fans. And, unfortunately, they’re stuck. They don’t pick their favorite teams based on quality of ownership. Most don’t (and can’t, even if they want) abandon existing loyalties. They just have to wait for ownership to either figure it out, change their ways, or accept an offer they won’t refuse.
That said, there’s no guarantee that whoever offered Ross close to $15 billion (if it happened) will do any better with a team that hasn’t won a playoff game under his stewardship. Because there’s no test for the next owner, either. And there’s no device for forcing any owner out based solely on owning a team that never seriously contends.
Through it all, Ross and all other owners keep making more money. And the values of their teams keep going up and up. And up.
Plenty of names have emerged in the 11 days since the coaching carousel started to spin on high speed. One has yet to surface.
In July, Jon Gruden said he’s “working hard to maybe get one more shot” at coaching. If any of the eight teams with current vacancies are interested in Gruden, they’re keeping things very quiet.
Gruden last coached in 2021. He resigned after someone made multiple (apparently strategic) leaks of inappropriate emails sent while he worked at ESPN. He quickly sued the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell for engineering his ouster.
Gruden’s lawsuit has been successful, so far. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that year that his case is not required to be resolved by the NFL’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration. That will only continue to make him persona non grata at 345 Park Avenue. Indeed, the NFL still omits the episode featuring the 2002 Buccaneers (and Gruden) from its annual July 4 America’s Game marathon.
So that’s the real question. Will a team do business with a coach with whom the NFL desires to do no business whatsoever? As one source explained it within the past year to PFT, the emails themselves are not believed to be an impediment to Gruden’s ability to resume coaching. The roadblock, if any, is the lawsuit.
Then there’s the fact that Gruden, now 62, has a regular-season record of 117-112, only five games above .500. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2002, Gruden has two one-and-done playoff appearances. (Interim coach Rich Bisaccia led the 2021 Raiders to the playoffs after Gruden stepped down, exiting in the wild-card round against the Bengals.)
The question, all things considered, is whether the juice is worth the squeeze. Even without the complication created by his lawsuit (which shouldn’t be an issue, but will be), does a team think Gruden can recapture the magic from years gone by?
Given that he’s currently unattached to any NFL team, every team with a vacancy is free to talk to him, formally or informally, publicly or privately. If anyone currently is, no one is talking about it.
And here’s the bottom line. With 25 percent of the NFL’s head-coaching jobs still open, this seems to be Gruden’s last, best shot at getting another job.
The most nagging question for some is whether the Raiders would do it. If so, it would be a call made by owner Mark Davis, possibly over the objection of Tom Brady — especially since it was Gruden (according to Davis) who objected to signing Brady when he became a free agent in 2020.
The Dolphins interviewed Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Wednesday and they’re interviewing two more defensive coaches on Thursday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they will interview Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. The Dolphins have also interviewed former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Minter has been requested to interview with every team looking for a head coach other than the Steelers, but we now know he won’t be landing the Giants job. Saleh is set to interview with the Ravens and Titans this weekend.
Oddsmakers have pegged Hafley as the favorite to get the job in Miami, but the search process still has to play out before anyone is going to be announced as their new head coach.
Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley completed an interview with the Dolphins for their head coaching vacancy yesterday, and today he’s the betting favorite to land the job.
The betting odds have Hafley as a +175 favorite to be the Dolphins’ next head coach.
New Dolphins General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan was the Packers’ vice president of player personnel before the Dolphins hired him last week, and Sullivan and Hafley were in Green Bay together for two years. That could give Hafley a leg up on the competition.
The 46-year-old Hafley was the head coach at Boston College from 2020 to 2023 before resigning to become the Packers’ defensive coordinator. He went 22-26 at Boston College.
Hafley can’t be hired until the Dolphins have complied with the Rooney Rule by interviewing at least two minority candidates. So far, they are known to have interviewed only two candidates, former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, both of whom are white.
The next-best odds for the Dolphins job go to Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula at +400. Stefanski is at +800 and Kubiak is at +1000.
John Harbaugh left the Giants building after interviewing with the club on Wednesday, but it sounds like he’ll be back soon.
According to a late-night Wednesday report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Harbaugh and the Giants are working to finalize a deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach. Barring a setback, the two sides are expected to come to an agreement.
Schefter adds that the two sides have not yet finalized the deal with Harbaugh’s contract still being negotiated. But without any setbacks, Schefter reports, “Harbaugh is ready to accept the Giants’ deal and the Giants are expected to hire him as soon as possible.”
New York is able to make a hire immediately, having satisfied the Rooney Rule by holding two in-person interviews with minority candidates.
Harbaugh was expected to meet with the Titans and Falcons later this week. But there was always a chance for the Giants to make a strong enough impression to get those interviews off of Harbaugh’s agenda.
Officials from Tennessee were reportedly set to fly to Baltimore on Thursday morning to meet with Harbaugh.
Harbaugh’s interview with the Giants on Wednesday reportedly included spending time with quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Fired by the Ravens last week after an 8-9 finish in 2025, Harbaugh accumulated a 180-113 regular-season record with the Ravens and a 13-11 postseason record in 18 years with the franchise. He coached the Ravens to their second Lombardi Trophy, defeating the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII to cap the 2012 season.
