Bills oddly part of Brian Flores' lawsuit against NFL, Giants. Here's how

The 58-page class action lawsuit, filed Tuesday, also names the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos and John Doe Teams 1-29. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court and seeks unspecified damages.

Flores, who is Black, was fired by the Dolphins on Jan. 10 after three seasons. The Dolphins finished last season 9-8, going 8-1 over the last stretch. Flores was 24-25 in his three years in Miami.

Flores interviewed for the Giants job, but former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was announced as head coach Friday. The lawsuit alleges the Giants had already decided to hire Daboll prior to interviewing Flores.

“Instead, the New York Giants made the decision to hire Brian Daboll – and disclosed that decision to third parties – during a time when the Giants were scheduled to still interview Mr. Flores and when Mr. Flores was deceptively led to believe he actually had a chance at this job,” the lawsuit alleges.

Alleged texts from Patriots coach Bill Belichick are cited, with Belichick appearing to congratulate Flores on landing the Giants job, until Flores points out he had not yet interviewed. Flores eventually asked if Belichick meant to text him or Brian Daboll.

“Sorry – I (messed) this up,” a screenshot of a text says. “I double checked and misread the text. I think they are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB.”

The text implying that Daboll had been hired came three days before Flores had his interview.

A footnote in the lawsuit says that Tim McDonnell, the Giants’ co-director of player personnel, mentioned Daboll when texting Flores about his interview for the Giants job:

“Ironically, during their January 11, 2022 text exchange, Mr. McDonnell also suggested that if Mr. Flores were hired as the Giants Head Coach, Brian Daboll might be interested in leaving Buffalo to serve as his Offensive Coordinator (‘Heard Daboll isn’t happy with Sean [McDermott] in Buffalo ... might be able to get out if he doesn’t get a head job… thoughts?).”

The NFL has rebuked the lawsuit.

“The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations,” the league said in a statement. “Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defense against these claims, which are without merit.”

The Giants also released a statement: “We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.”

The Rooney Rule was established to diversify hiring practices in the NFL. The lawsuit is not just about Flores’ individual case, but an overall failure for the league to reflect the percentage of Black athletes on the field in coaching positions.

“The Rooney Rule is also not working because management is not doing the interviews in good-faith, and it therefore creates a stigma that interviews of Black candidates are only being done to comply with the Rooney Rule rather than in recognition of the talents that the Black candidates possess,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit also notes the racial disparity between owners and players.

“Its 32 owners — none of whom are Black — profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70% of whom are Black,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit pointed out other racial disparities in hiring, including offensive and defensive coordinators.

In addition to allegations of racism in hiring, the lawsuit makes allegations against Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. The lawsuit alleges that during the 2019 season, “Mr. Ross told Mr. Flores that he would pay him $100,000 for each game lost that year,” and that following the season, “Mr. Ross began to pressure Mr. Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules.”

Flores is still in the process of interviewing for other head coaching vacancies. He is still a candidate for the Saints and Texans jobs.

"God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals,” Flores said in a statement through the law firm representing him in the case. “In making the decision to file the class action complaint, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love.”