Dolphins give DB Minkah Fitzpatrick permission to seek trade

I will only trade him for 2x 1st Round picks.. not less

 

They should apply to start over as an expansion team. This team is done. Flores is done. There is no team.

Start from scratch.

 

I don't think he's worth 2 first rounders though....he hasn't shown enough yet to be considered proven. Love him as a player and I think he has Pro Bowl potential, but we could probably only get a 2nd for him (and I wouldn't move him for that).

 

When guys who have been universally praised as having high character, high smarts and high work ethic want out, perhaps you should look in the mirror and question what could possibly cause this to happen.

To me it looks like the Tunsil trade just shouted to the players that the phins don’t want to even try to win this year. I can fully understand guys like Minkah wanting nothing to do with a tank job.

 

Fitzpatrick isn't a 28 year old perennial all-pro either. Who is he to be demanding trades?

Jones?...Howard? Fine, demand trades.

With that being said. Trade everyone, baby! Start from scratch.

 

I dont think its anything about the tank job and more so to do with, he hasn’t had a defined role on this team and he hasn’t found himself yet in this league. He sees what Miami is doing and he thinks his development is not where it’s suppose to be.

 

That's what I've been trying to illustrate all along- no player wants to be a part of that. Not only do they risk career ending injury for absolutely nothing, but professional athletes just aren't built to intentionally lose.

I've been thinking about it today and here's what really pisses me off. Let's say someone came to Minkah and paid him to "throw a game". Basically, he'd let the receiver blow past him 2 or 3 times....maybe he fake falls down or whatever....and that gives the opponent a free 21 points and the win. Once the plot was discovered, Minkah would be banned from the league and probably hated forever. Am I right? Yet when Grier creates the exact same atmosphere to gain a draft pick, everyone is okay with it.

Explain to me why one is deplorable and the other is a great idea.

 

Btw we aren’t going to get much for Minkah.. we will be lucky to net a 4th round pick for him.. he hasn’t done anything in this league for teams to be like here’s your first round pick back Miami

 

And , if anyone thinks they are going to do a full scale rebuild with Brian Flores at the helm. Get back to me when you come back from Mars. lol

 

Man what a mess, second year DB wants out, dude has been nothing but professional and he wants out. Something is very wrong in Miami... I get blowing it up, we been living in mediocrity since Marino left but there has to be a better way to handle this.

 

The idiots should have drafted Lamar Jackson with that pick anyway. What a mess!

The NBA season needs to hurry up and get here.

 

Alright, this one hurts.

 

This one truly surprises me. Your second year first round draft pick who is praised for his versatility on the field and what he brings and you're not concerned about losing a future star on your defense?

I wish we could hear from the front office and let them be straight up honest as to what their plan truly is

 

This PLUS I don't think he is playing as well as he has liked. He has taken poor angles and not tackled well. And at times just plainly got beat because he had poor technique. He's not taking responsibility for that, so he must be the type to blame others like the coaches for his poor play. He WAS one of my favorite players. Not anymore. He quit on his team after one game! He's a me-first player, not a team-first player. He's all about himself. Too much drama. I was wrong about him. C'ya!

That said, my position on this doesn't mean I think that Flores and the coaches should not look at themselves too. If Flore's motto is team-first, he should be looking for ways he and his coaches can improve also, and I think he is. He has said on multiple occasions that our team's poor play begins with him and that he has to do more to be a better coach, put players in position to succeed, etc.. The players haven't always played up to their potential and Flores isn't quitting on them. The players shouldn't quit on him. He's still coaching them up the best he can. The goal for him has never changed. He is trying to win. Yes, our season is over, but we have 15 games to go. Team-first and finish strong.

 

This

 

They don't want to lose him. Flores has probably been talking with him all week to try and find a solution. Obviously, Minkah has made up his mind and doesn't want to do what the coaches are asking him to do so they have no choice but to grant him his wish.
Minkah quit on his team after one game! SMH. What a diva! I can't stand guys like him.

 

This could be two things, I think.

1 - The shakeup has Minkah wanting to bail.
2 - Minkah disagrees with how he is being used.

Considering how cheap Minkah is right now, with youth and talent, and that I don't think there's anyone else on the squad superior to him other than Jones, I have to wonder why the Dolphins don't give him his position of preference...

If they really don't feel they have room for him then you have to question Grier making this pick.

Is he a diva? Maybe a little bit. There was that whole 'Fitzmagic' legal claim issue, which seemed a bit odd. Still, everything out of college was that this was a committed, hardworking guy. That won't have just disappeared overnight.

 

The front office quit on the season. If Minkah's a diva, then the FO is Moulin Rouge.

 

I think it's clear they drafted him thinking they were getting a swiss army knife defender, but he's not interested. So either they should have checked first, or else they did and he agreed but now he's not happy...

Makes me think of that often repeated line on draft night - "I'm just want to do whatever it takes to help the team."

 

Not the same thing. One is a change in organizational strategy for one season so that we can regroup and hopefully get better down the road because we have a chance at a franchise QB. The other is quitting on your teammates when the going gets tough. He's a quitter. Trading him is enabling him. Unless we get a great offer, I would keep him and make him play the season out. Whether it's on the field or on the bench it's up to him and his attitude.

 

"...
Fitzpatrick, who was projected as a cornerback/safety out of Alabama, played three or four different positions against Baltimore. He has been uncomfortable with his constantly fluctuating role on the Dolphins' defense throughout the offseason.

During Miami's joint practices with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in August, Fitzpatrick's mother, Melissa, mentioned on Twitter that he was being incorrectly used at strong safety to suit other players' skill sets.

Fitzpatrick confirmed that he agreed with his mother's thoughts after that practice, saying, "She feels very strongly. She's not wrong. Coach has asked me to do something right now. I got to do what they ask me to do. If we have to have some discussions in the future, we'll have those discussions.

"I'm not 215 pounds, 220 pounds. So playing in the box isn't best suited for me, but that's what Coach is asking me to do."

A personnel man for one team had praise for Fitzpatrick as the "ideal slot corner who can cover, blitz off the edge, [is] intelligent, a good tackler and a good special teams player," but doubted that teams would be willing to part with a first-round draft choice in 2020.

Another GM felt that the Dolphins were unrealistic about their expectations on compensation for Fitzpatrick after "they got an arm and a leg for [Laremy] Tunsil from the Texans" before Week 1."

 

The funny part is this is a guy that just proved he needs bracket or over the top help on the boundary, has his Mommy complain for him that he is not 220 and can't play in the box, and lack COD to be a lock down slot corner, and cries about being exposed and you want a first rounder for him.......what exactly does he do that is elite?????

thats not the funny part...funny part is you picked him at 11, and he is one of your best picks lol................you will be lucky to get a 3 and a conditional pick, the rest of the NFL is not Bill O'Brien..................

maybe you can get a first rounder for a fourth year pass rusher with about 5 total sacks in 3 years that you picked at 25 or so............

 

He's in the league just for the money and only wants to play a position where he will shine and eventually get paid. If he loved football, you would think he would embrace being a swiss army knife. It's like a basketball player who is the teams best defender and is always being put on the other teams best offensive player. It's an honor that the coaching staff think so highly of you.

I will add though, that I am concerned that Flores is trying the ole put a round peg in a square hole thing that I truly despise. I would prefer it if he designed his scheme to fit the players and not the other way around. However, he might be trying to do that and we just don't have the optimal pieces. There is only so much a coach can do and he has to work with what he has. Maybe that is why he is asking Fitzpatrick to do so much. It's still no reason to quit on your team though. Are we a group of individual independent contractors, or are we a football team where we fight and battle to win each game for each other?

 

Flores beat out Kris Richard (Cowboys DB coach/Legion of Boom creator) for the gig.

Makes me wonder if Kris would have done a better job with Minkah.

 

This is getting ridiculous. I understand it's hard to get motivated to play when your yeah it's terrible. I played on a soccer team in high school that was awful... Were so much wise than every yeah we played. But myself and a couple other guys practiced hard and played our asses off every game. If you don't try hard just because you don't have a chance at winning, I don't want you.

 

I can't remember anything like this before in the NFL. I mean, any individual part of what has happened has happened before to other teams, but all this combined happening to one team in one off-season and the first part of the regular season? Never. This is just plain embarrassing.

 

I don’t think that’s the issue. I think it’s that they are changing his responsibilities too frequently for his liking.

The tanking thing is certainly a prominent issue for the team, but I think we have to resist the temptation of having that function as sort of a “magnet” that explains everything that happens.

 

If they can't get a 1st for him don't move him.He needs to suffer like the rest of us.

 

I am actually saddened to read that tweet from Wharton regarding the position Minkah is playing. I wonder if Minkah's attitude about the situation is the culprit. I know can be frustrating at times if you feel you aren't being used correctly, but Flores might be the kind of coach that doesn't give into stuff like that. There are a lot of players in the league who probably could say that too. Not saying that Flores is perfect. He has a lot of work to do as a HC and with his game planning etc., but I don't blame him for not giving in to a player who has a bad attitude because he is not getting his way.

 

I hate reading anyone framing this as quitting on the team. The team is purposely tanking and be the worst team in football. That culture is toxic.

I have no problem with Fitzpatrick wanting to go to another team that is actually trying to win & will coach him right. The fins can find some other scrub happy to get a paycheck and still lose all their gamed.

 

Vonte Davis and his grandmother comes to mind.
Never imagined anything close to a repeat but this is close.

Both high expectations high draft picks.
one just got lazy.

Then there's that mighty mouse guy and his mouth of a wife.

 

A purging fire is necessary, I don't think anyone in this front office will make it to next year's draft. I thought we were already close to rock bottom but now we plummet even further.

 

Giving away all the talent reminds me of Nick Saban being here all over again.




Hope Flores is 100% dedicated to turn this around and not just here to deplete and run.

 

The culture is only toxic because guys like Fitzpatrick are tapping out after playing poorly and getting their asses whooped. I am not defending Flores either. The game plan was **** and he has to do better. However, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Guys should be sticking together and finding ways to get better because they were in a position to make plays and they didn't. It's not all on the coaching. The players have to share some responsibility too. The whole team, coaches and players, need to fight their way out of this situation. Adversity stemming from the butt whooping they got last week can make this team better, but they have to embrace it, not run away from it.