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, including Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, suggest that the Dolphins won’t simply take the best offer.
Reiterated again today that Dolphins, at this point, are not willing to simply take best offer whatever it is. Would trade him only for what they consider high value https://t.co/yrXUDMDp3S
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) September 13, 2019
Following Sunday’s blowout loss against the Baltimore Ravens, Pro Football Talk reported that several Miami Dolphins players had contacted their agents about wanting out of Miami. Per the report, they had asked their agent to begin discussions to engineer a trade. There were whispers around Minkah Fitzpatrick, but not many believed the second-year player had the clout to demand such a thing. Apparently, these were more than whispers.
This report likely won’t go too well with some in the locker room. On Monday, offensive lineman and tackle Daniel Kilgore spoke out against those who wanted to be traded.
“My thing is if you don’t want to be here, I don’t want you here. I want to come here and get ready for New England starting today, and we’ll move forward.”
Chris Grier reportedly issued an ultimatum to Stephen Ross
Earlier this week, the Miami Herald reported that when Minkah 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. That’s because the Dolphins had fallen in love with him throughout the draft process.
However, owner Stephen Ross wanted to trade down and accumulate picks. According to my 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 QB Lamar Jackson, who shredded the Dolphins on Sunday.
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. If this report is true, then you can expect that Ross is likely not happy.
Minkah Fitzpatrick hasn’t been used the right way in Miami
The Dolphins selected Fitzpatrick in 2018 as a swiss army knife, and now here they are looking to trade him away. In Fitzpatrick’s defense, he has been given the short end of the straw in Miami. He was moved all over the defense last year and this year, he has been moved around quite a bit as well. All of this, despite the fact that Fitzpatrick has publicly and privately pleaded with coaches to let him get settled into one role so he can excel.
On Monday, following the loss against the Ravens, he had this to say about the poor defensive performance.
“It was a lot of different things. Guys looking at the wrong – that’s what I did, personally – just looking at the wrong things. Sometimes we weren’t put in the best positon; but even still, we know it’s up to the players to make the play. Coaches can call whatever they want, but like on my play I wasn’t in the best position but I’ve still got to make a play, got to cover my guy. That’s usually what I do. I’ve just got to do my job. That’s what is all boils down to, whether it was with the front, the secondary or the linebackers. Everybody has to do their job. There’s a lot of people just not doing it or trying to do it differently than what we were coached to and that’s what happened.”
Where do the Miami Dolphins go from here?
It will be interesting to see what happens. While Fitzpatrick is expected to play on Sunday against the New England Patriots, this story may become too much to ignore. If Grier trades him away, he’s essentially admitting to making a mistake by drafting Fitzpatrick. That likely won’t sit well with Ross and the rest of the executive leadership.
Stay tuned to Pro Football Network here and on Twitter: @PFN365 for the latest on this situation and more from around the NFL.