Schefter: Tom Brady Isn't Unretiring to Replace Tua Tagovailoa for Dolphins amid Buzz

Tom Brady is at the start of his broadcasting career with Fox, and he reportedly isn't going to come out of retirement to fill in for the injured Tua Tagovailoa on the Miami Dolphins.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reported as much during Sunday's episode of NFL Countdown while also revealing Tagovailoa "would like to continue playing and doesn't have any plans to retire" even after suffering the third confirmed concussion of his NFL career during Thursday's game against the Buffalo Bills.

"He's 26 years old," Schefter said. "When he went through this before, he had no desire to retire. My understanding is he still would like to continue playing and doesn't have any plans to retire. That is going into the meeting with the neurologist, which will help give him more information, which will help him make an informed decision.

"The Dolphins are sitting back and waiting to see what happens with Tua in these meetings and what comes out of them, and while I'm sure they've had to discuss how to proceed forward, I don't think they've had any significant discussions about replacements for Tua at this point in time when Mike McDaniel himself has said that Skylar Thompson is the expected starter for their next game against the Seattle Seahawks.

"And I know a lot of people suggested Tom Brady, bringing him out of retirement, that's not going to happen with Tom Brady going to Miami."

The report comes after Darius Butler, who played with Brady on the New England Patriots, shared an image of the all-time great in a Dolphins jersey:

It wasn't long ago that the Dolphins were connected to Brady so much they were punished.

As ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques noted in August 2022, Miami was stripped of its 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick for violating the league's anti-tampering policy because of conversations with Brady and then-New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton.

Team owner Stephen Ross was also fined $1.5 million and suspended.

Brady never played for Miami and instead finished his career with three seasons on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after starring in New England for 20 seasons. In all, he retired with an unbelievable resume that included seven Super Bowl titles, five Super Bowl MVPs, three league MVPs and 15 Pro Bowl nods.

As for the Dolphins, their immediate future at quarterback is somewhat uncertain given Tagovailoa's injury history. He suffered multiple concussions during the 2022 season and was stretchered off the field in one of them. While he played all 17 games last season, he suffered another one Thursday.

Schefter echoed the sentiments that the team plans on starting Skylar Thompson during the upcoming game against the Seattle Seahawks, which follows head coach Mike McDaniel's comments.

"I don't know what our timeline is. I'm not concerned with that," McDaniel told reporters after Thursday's game. "We played Skylar as a rookie and with the season on the line, and found a way to win an elimination game and go toe-to-toe with this very same organization in a playoff game. I think that he's a much better player than he was then. Those are things that the team feels—I think guys really believe in Skylar, so I have the utmost confidence in him."

He also told reporters Thompson is the "next man up."

Thompson went 1-1 as a starter during the 2022 regular season and then threw one touchdown and two interceptions during a playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills.