Report: Dolphins had internal discussions over Tom Brady purchasing a stake in team

Despite Tom Brady retiring from the game of football after his season ended with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his name has continued to appear in news circles.

A report from ProFootballTalk has said that the Miami Dolphins were interested in having the GOAT purchase a stake in the team. Talks were reportedly in progress amongst the Dolphins organization before a lawsuit from Brian Flores against the team and the NFL for racial discrimination was filed.

The report also mentioned that the team was planning to offer Sean Payton and Tom Brady a package deal to purchase a stake in the team. Sean Payton recently retired as head coach of the New Orleans Saints after 16 years and one Super Bowl victory in the 2009-2010 season.

"Before the Brian Flores lawsuit was filed, the Dolphins had planned to attempt to finagle a Sean Payton/Tom Brady package deal for 2022," ProFootballTalk shared on Twitter.

"As to the Brady side of the equation, multiple Dolphins sources acknowledged under condition of anonymity that the team has had internal discussions about Brady purchasing a minority interest in the team," an additional tweet stated.

Is Tom Brady finished for good in the NFL?

Once the three-time NFL MVP decided to hang up the cleats after 22 NFL seasons, many were skeptical that he would remain retired. One of the reasons for those thoughts was that the All-Pro quarterback was playing at perhaps the highest level in his illustrious career.

Brady ended the season as the runner-up for the NFL MVP award to Aaron Rodgers and threw for a career-high 5,316 yards; 43 touchdowns (second-most in his career) and only 12 interceptions.

With someone as competitive as the GOAT, many find it hard to believe that he would allow the 30-27 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to be his final act.

When most quarterbacks (and players in general) decide to retire, it's either due to injury or because they are not able to play the position at the highest level as they once had during the peak of their careers (see Ben Roethlisberger as exhibit "A").

At 44 years old, the seven-time Super Bowl champion seemingly improved like fine wine as his career continued.

There have also been subtle signs that Tom Brady misses the game, such as the tweet he posted just hours before Super Bowl LVI was slated to begin.

The tweet was a picture of the quarterback's phone, which sent out a reminder for the Super Bowl, to which Brady tweeted: "Sh**..."

Whether or not the Pro Bowl quarterback returns to the league remains to be seen. But it's hard to believe that someone with such a successful last NFL season could remain on the sidelines for long.