In his dismissal by the Miami Dolphins last month, coach Brian Flores declined to sign a non-disparagement agreement presented by team owner Stephen Ross, Flores told Bryant Gumbel of HBO’s “Real Sports.”
“Just signing that separation agreement would have really silenced me,” Flores said in an episode that airs tonight.
By not signing the non-disparagement agreement, Flores left millions of dollars on the table, said John Elefterakis, one of Flores’ attorneys. But not signing also granted him the freedom to talk about his treatment in Miami.
“To Coach Flores’ credit, he wasn’t gonna sign that, because he wanted — it wasn’t about the money,” attorney Doug Wigdor told Gumbel, adding it was a two-year non-disparagement agreement contract. “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.”
Wigdor added: “If a coach is terminated with a couple years or a year left on their contract, they don’t get paid, unless they sign a waiver, an NDA, confidentiality, and non-disparagement. So they buy their silence.”
With the ability to speak freely about his time with the Dolphins, Flores, who was recently hired as a defensive assistant by the Pittsburgh Steelers, filed a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams (the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos), alleging racial discrimination in hiring practices and his dismissal by Miami.
Among other allegations, Flores said he was offered $100,000 per loss by Ross in 2019, something he and his attorneys told Gumbel they have evidence of and would be willing to share with the NFL in its investigation of Ross.