What is Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross doing?
Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross, is conspicuous by his absence. Where is he? What is he doing? Who is he seeking advice from? What decisions will he ultimately make regarding the future of the Miami Dolphins? Will he force Joe Philbin to fire Mike Sherman? Will he fire Philbin himself? Will Jeff Ireland’s reign in Miami finally come to an end? The truth is, no one knows because Stephen Ross has not been seen since his helicopter left the Dolphins Headquarters on Thursday night.
The latest news we have came from Chris Mortensen of ESPN on Sunday Countdown. More essentially said that both Joe Philbin and Jeff Ireland appear to be ‘safe’. Then, on Sunday night, Mike Silver of NFL Network tweeted this out:
Against all odds, I am hearing Jeff Ireland may stay on as Dolphins GM…
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 6, 2014
Obviously, it’s not known who the sources are for these reports, but these are two very credible NFL insiders. Contrast what these two insiders are reporting with what Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweeted out:
Dear Twitter, will/will not > may/may not. Nothing 100 percent at this moment. Good night.
— Armando Salguero (@ArmandoSalguero) January 6, 2014
So, what I surmise from all of this is that we really don’t know anything….at least not yet. If Stephen Ross learned one thing from his flirtation a few years back with Jim Harbaugh, it’s to keep his intentions to himself. We know that he’s unhappy with the way the team finished the 2013 season, with disappointing losses to the Bills and Jets. We are pretty sure that he asked Joe Philbin to change his offensive assistants (including Mike Sherman), but Philbin was resistant and has language in his contract granting him final say on hiring/firing coaches. We know that he’s struggling with a decision on Jeff Ireland because he gave Ireland assurances earlier this season, that he would return. (continued on page 2, CLICK HERE)