No one is safe. That much became true for members of the Miami Dolphins when the news broke that offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil was being traded to Houston just before the season. And in the two weeks since, the Dolphins have received a trade request from defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and now have discussed dealing running back Kenyan Drake, according to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer.
There were reportedly a handful of disgruntled Dolphins after the team’s 59-10 loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1. With the news of Fitzpatrick’s trade request, it is clear that he was among them. Could Drake be another? It makes sense — Drake is at a devalued position by NFL economic standards and is in a contract year. There could be some natural pushback to the idea that Drake spends his “prove-it” year on a tanking team.
The Dolphins themselves are contesting this report via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Salguero tweeted shortly after that Miami has had “zero” discussions of trading Drake.
Miami is likely to be a free agent spender this offseason as they look to rebuild the team around a new franchise quarterback taken in the 2020 NFL Draft. As such, they’d eliminate any possibility of recouping a compensatory pick for letting Drake walk in free agency, so dealing him before his contract expires does make sense from an asset perspective, especially considering that the Dolphins staff still seems to like Kalen Ballage despite his early struggles.
