FEBRUARY 23: During his latest WSVN appearance on Sunday, Fitzpatrick’s agent Drew Rosenhaus said (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) no trade request has been made in this case. Fitzpatrick is nevertheless a stronger candidate to be dealt than some of his teammates, so another deal sending him out of Miami remains something to watch for.
FEBRUARY 18: Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick may be part of a mass offseason exodus of high-priced veterans in Miami. The Dolphins have discussed a Fitzpatrick trade with other teams, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports. It’s unclear if they have made progress in those talks.
[RELATED: Dolphins Offseason Outlook]
Fitzpatrick, a Dolphins first-round pick in 2018, is in his second stint with the franchise. His first run ended when the Dolphins traded him to the Steelers in September 2019 for a package headlined by a 2020 first-rounder. The Dolphins wound up re-acquiring Fitzpatrick in a swap involving another decorated defensive back, Jalen Ramsey, and tight end Jonnu Smith last June.
Fitzpatrick did not add to his five Pro Bowl nods and three first-team All-Pro selections in his first season back in Miami. However, the 29-year-old still put together another productive season.
Over 14 games (all starts), Fitzpatrick tallied 82 tackles, six passes defensed, two fumble recoveries, an interception and his first career sack. Logging a significant number of snaps in the slot, at free safety and in the box, Pro Football Focus ranked Fitzpatrick a superb fifth among 91 qualifying safeties.
Despite his strong output, the floundering Dolphins were open to trading Fitzpatrick before last season’s Nov. 4 deadline. Nothing came together then, but with a new regime of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, the rebuilding Dolphins are making over their roster. Fitzpatrick could soon follow wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, outside linebacker Bradley Chubb and guard James Daniels out the door. The team also figures to give quarterback Tua Tagovailoa his walking papers sometime soon.
The Dolphins were unable to trade the released group of Hill, Westbrook-Ikhine, Chubb and Daniels. Meanwhile, they’ve hit nothing but roadblocks in attempting to move Tagovailoa. Finding a taker for Fitzpatrick should be easier. He’s due a non-guaranteed base salary of $15.6MM in 2026, the last year of his contract. The Dolphins would take on approximately $13MM in dead money with a pre-June 1 trade, but they’d free up $5.83MM in cap space.
No, fellow Steeler fans, he’s not coming back. Rules don’t allow the Steelers to re-acquire him for two full seasons after a trade so please don’t even…
Unless he’s cut.
It was already feeling very familiar to see the Dolphins fire an offensive head coach, hire a defensive head coach, strip their team of high priced veterans, and look to bail on their last first round quarterback as they tank for another one. Trading Minkah Fitzpatrick again would really complete the picture.
@Oooof. Hafley will be fired in two years as well like Flores, and will have to build up his stock. Tank for manning, but he might’ve pull a eli. Im not sure if he would pick Miami, they dont have a great track record.
Dark days in Miami for awhile, however, they’ve sucked even when they’ve tried. Hopefully, they finally found the right architect. Trade Fitzpatrick and get a draft pick for him. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Dolphins trade back every time they’re on the clock in order to get more (and less expensive) picks.
Dallas. We have been in need of a good safety since the great Darren Woodson last played. Long time I know. No coincidence when we had him was the last time any of our defenses were considered good. Minkah hasn’t been the same since Pittsburgh but I think still can get the job done with more freedom. Safety is in need of an upgrade.
I think they always envisioned Minkah as a guy they could use like Polamalu here in Pittsburgh. But Troy was a generational talent and playing Minkah as something of a monster back never worked. That’s especially true because he didn’t have Ryan Clark and Ike in the secondary.
I dunno. I kind of think the Steelers lost the trade for Ramsey
Best fits:
Cowboys
Raiders
Eagles
Vikings
Panthers
I’d like to see him in Green Bay
They wouldn’t get much for him, but the salary relief would be nice.
6th and 7th swap? Or a 6th flat? Idk about a 5th
Something inconsequential like that I think yes.
Wonder what the price tag is.
Seen this alot.
Fire HC, hire new HC, tear team down, build team back up, team still sucks. Fire HC, hire new HC, tear team down, team still sucks. Rinse and repeat.
Lion King fans call it the circle of life 🙂
Detroit Lions fans call it that too! I remember when the Lions used to “Rally to Save the Coach’s Job!” (Wayne Fontes) Everybody else in the league just laughed at them because they’re the Lions. They still do.
What would be the cost though? 5th? Maybe mid to low 4th?
The article says that if the Dolphins do find a trade for Fitzpatrick that they would have a $13 million hit of dead money against the cap but if he doesn’t have any guaranteed money on his deal, pretty sure that’s not the case
They say his salary is non-guaranteed. That’s the key word. Salary travels to the other team in a trade, whether it’s guaranteed or not. Signing bonus does not, whether it’s been paid yet or not. And when teams restructure contracts, they’re usually converting salary guarantees to bonus.
Buccaneers should be all over this
So, they dump every guy they have that’s any good and then they go 0-17 next year and the new coach gets canned after one year. Makes total sense to me. Is it to early to lose to get Arch Manning next year? After all he looked so good last year. 😂😂
@man. He also could refuse to sign with them, and stay another year. I wouldn’t want to go to Miami, because its a mess.
My sentiments exactly
bengals could really use him .. but then again .. their defense could use any good player with a pulse