According to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, the Miami Dolphins “have granted permission to defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick to seek a trade, according to multiple sources who say that Miami’s asking price is too high.” Mortensen reports that the Dolphins are seeking a 2020 first-round pick as part of the trade, but some teams believe that is unrealistic.
The Dolphins have told Mortensen that they are not actively shopping him, but he noted that they did not deny they have given agent Joel Segal permission to talk with other teams. According to Mortensen, Segal has been unavailable for comment but other NFL teams have confirmed contact.
Reports coming out on Friday morning from various Dolphins reporters suggest that the Dolphins won’t simply take the best offer, and instead, will only move Fitzpatrick if they deem the value good enough.
One would expect that the 11th overall pick in the NFL Draft would stick around the team that drafted him for more than one year, especially because Fitzpatrick is a good player. So, when this type of report surfaces, it’s not a bad idea to look back on the 2018 NFL Draft and look at what other options the Dolphins may have had besides Fitzpatrick.
Sources tell PFN Draft Analyst Tony Pauline that leading up to the 2018 draft, the Miami Dolphins brain trust was split between quarterbacks. While they all liked Baker Mayfield, there was some disagreement between Josh Allen and Josh Rosen. Head Coach Adam Gase had liked Allen a lot, but others in the room were more in line with drafting Rosen. The one thing they did agree on? If one of those quarterbacks were there, they were going to take one at 11th overall.
However, once all three were off the board by the time the Dolphins were on the clock, they moved to their contingency plan, which had defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick at the top of the list. According to Matt Infante, PFN’s Chief Editor and Co-Owner, everyone in the room was sold on drafting Fitzpatrick, except one person – Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
Earlier this week, the Miami Herald reported that when Fitzpatrick was on the board with the Dolphins 11th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, general manager Chris Grier didn’t want to waste any time selecting him. However, Ross wanted to trade down and accumulate picks.
According to PFN Owner Matt Cannata’s sources, the Dolphins had a trade in place with the New Orleans Saints where the Dolphins would drop to the end of the first round while the Saints would move up. The trade was not made, and the Saints ended up trading up with the Green Bay Packers.
After trading down, Ross wanted to use that pick to then select quarterback Lamar Jackson. But, according to the Herald’s report, Grier told Ross that he was picking Fitzpatrick and if the owner wanted to fire him, then he could fire him. Grier selected Fitzpatrick, wasn’t fired and was promoted this offseason. If the ultimatum from Grier to Ross is true, you have to wonder how Ross is feeling after this latest report.
But what if Fitzpatrick wasn’t on the board at 11th overall? According to Infante’s sources, the Dolphins had linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who was drafted by the Buffalo Bills at 16th overall, rated highly on their board. Additionally, Pauline’s sources note that the Dolphins were high on linebacker Rashaan Evans, who was drafted 22nd overall by the Tennessee Titans.
We don’t know what the outcome would’ve been had Fitzpatrick been off the board when the Dolphins were on the clock, but there would have been a spirited debate in the room as there were several different opinions on what to do after that. They could have traded down with the Saints, selected Edmunds, or Evans.
But, the Dolphins did get Fitzpatrick, and in just his second season, he’s requesting a trade to get out of Miami. That certainly wasn’t the vision the Dolphins brain trust had in mind when they were near-unanimous in drafting him in 2018.
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