Brian Flores said he declined to sign NDA, separation agreement after fired by Dolphins
According to Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross tried to get him to sign a separation agreement after he was fired, the former head coach told HBO’s Bryant Gumbel in an interview that broadcast Tuesday.
Had he signed that, Flores and his attorneys said his lawsuit against the team and the league wouldn’t have been filed.
“Just signing that separation agreement would have really silenced me,” Flores said on HBO’s “Real Sports.”
Tonight, Bryant Gumbel’s exclusive interview with Brian Flores, his first since being hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stream #RealSports on @HBOMAXpic.twitter.com/1BM6KFQAWI
— Real Sports (@RealSportsHBO) February 22, 2022
Flores’ attorneys said that because he declined to sign the separation agreement, which reportedly included an NDA, he gave up “a lot of money." His attorney, Doug Wigdor, then chimed in and said the amount was “millions” of dollars.
"To Coach Flores' credit, he wasn't gonna sign that, because he wanted — it wasn't about the money," attorney Doug Wigdor told Gumbel. "If it was about the money he would have signed it. What he did instead was he filed this lawsuit so that he could help other coaches, now and in the future."
Dolphins deny Flores’ claims, but he brought receipts
The Dolphins issued a statement Tuesday night denying Flores’ claims about a separation agreement.
“This latest assertion by Brian Flores that Steve Ross mentioned an NDA to him is categorically false,” the team said in a statement, via ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. “This just did not happen and we simply cannot understand why Brian continues this pattern of making unfounded statements that he knows are untrue.
“We are fully cooperating with the NFL investigation and looking forward to all of the facts coming out which we are confident will prove that his claims are false and defamatory.”
Minutes later, Wigdor posted what he said are screenshots of the separation agreement Flores alleged.
In response to the #Dolphins calling Brian Flores' assertion of an NDA "categorically false," below are screenshots from the draft agreement & payment termination notice.
If #BrianFlores had signed this, he would have been gagged and unable to talk about his experience.#NFLpic.twitter.com/rlEgTXsd4I— WigdorLaw (@WigdorLaw) February 23, 2022
Whether Ross was the one who specifically mentioned the NDA or separation agreement to Flores is unclear. The documents in the screenshot were signed by Dolphins vice president Brandon Shore.
Flores was fired after three seasons with the Dolphins, and then was hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers last week as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. The move came shortly after he filed the class-action lawsuit against the league, the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos where he alleged racial discrimination in hiring processes and that Ross had offered him $100,000 per loss to tank for a high draft pick in 2019.
The league, all three teams and Ross have denied the allegations against them.
