The Miami Dolphins talked the NFL about the pending hiring of Mike Tannenbaum as the team's executive vice president of football operations days before announcing it Tuesday and those conversations included whether the team needed to conduct a Rooney Rule interview.
And the sides agreed no such interview was necessary.
This according to a high-ranking source close to Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
The source said that had the league concluded a Rooney Rule interview was necessary, the Dolphins would have complied with one but there was a mutual understanding one was not necessary.
This obviously pushes back against the narrative that the Dolphins were completely unaware such an interview of a minority candidate might be necessary and that learning of that possibility after the fact, owner Stephen Ross changed how much authority Tannenbaum will wield over general manager Dennis Hickey...
... After a press release from the team outlined Tannenbaum's role.
The Dolphins continue to maintain Hickey will report to Tannenbaum on all matters except those relating to picking the club's 53-man roster and draft-day decisions. Hickey keeps final say on that. What remains unclear is what else is Hickey responsible for other than those giant and important assignments?
The answer might be nothing.
And if that's the case, Hickey doesn't answer to Tannenbaum at all -- which again relieves the Dolphins from having had to comply with the Rooney Rule.
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