The wheels have just about completely fallen off the bus. This tanking business is not for the ill of heart. The Miami Dolphins started their rebuild by letting a fan favorite and team legend in Cameron Wake walk out the door. It was understandable. The Dolphins then traded underachieving, expensive starters like Ryan Tannehill away for whatever they could get. It was understandable.
Miami’s next move was to stockpile picks and lottery tickets at the NFL Draft instead of improving this roster at an exceptional rate for 2019, which was a wise move for a team building through the draft. But then things got a little shaky.
The Dolphins cut half of their lottery tickets before the season started. The team traded young cornerstone Laremy Tunsil — Miami’s only proven long-term asset along the offensive line. And even that, after consideration, was understandable. Miami fleeced the desperate Texans.
But this? This is baffling.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported last night that the Miami Dolphins have given Minkah Fitzpatrick — the team’s 2018 1st-round pick and a defensive building block of the future — permission to seek a trade. The Dolphins “aren’t actively shopping Fitzpatrick”, but Fitzpatrick is unhappy with being tasked with playing multiple positions and has expressed a desire to move on.
This could have been seen coming with the terrible attitude Fitzpatrick illustrated on Sunday against the Ravens — but at the same time, Fitzpatrick is a versatile defender whose strengths will be best utilized in a multitude of roles. This issue has clearly been festering with the Fitzpatrick household all summer — remember Fitzpatrick’s mother took to social media to defender her son against criticism that he hasn’t played well, suggesting he’s playing out of position.
Fitzpatrick didn’t disagree with her when asked. But the Dolphins aren’t going to just give him away.
And so something has to give. This tank teeters on the brink of too far — trading away a second year player with Fitzpatrick’s talent creates just another hole to fill, but this one comes for no reason. It is an option, however — if a team offers up a package worth Miami’s while. But if not, there are two options: either the Dolphins can commit to playing Fitzpatrick at nickel corner full-time to appease him or Fitzpatrick can grow up and play ball.
