The Phinsider
We take a look back at the Miami Dolphins trade of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Miami Dolphins used the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to acquire a Swiss Army knife of a defensive player, selecting Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Under then head coach Adam Gase, Fitzpatrick was initially listed as the backup behind Reshad Jones and T.J. McDonald at safety, but Fitzpatrick forced his way into the starting lineup for most of the season, with the Dolphins utilizing all three players on the field.
Miami fired Gase after the season, hiring Brian Flores as his replacement. Flores, in designing his defensive scheme, looked to use Fitzpatrick as a strong safety and linebacker, looking to create mismatches, but, according to the player, limiting his ability to use his athleticism to his advantage.
In 2020, Fitzpatrick looked back at his time with Flores in Miami during an interview with Bleacher Report. He explained, “Even though they have me in the wrong spot and other players know they have me in the wrong spot. Even though I disagree with the coaches. I’m still going to follow their lead.
“It was messing up my skill set. I was working the hand-fighting drills against the tight ends and working on hitting the bags and stuff like that. That’s fine and dandy, but that wasn’t my skill set.”
Fitzpatrick went on to ask Flores to allow him to work in coverage during practice, putting back in his free safety position where he felt his athleticism and his understanding of the game and opponents allowed him to succeed. The coaches moved him for one practice into coverage drills, but did not give him any true reps, so the next practice, Fitzpatrick admitted he “went rogue” and joined the one-on-one drills with the defensive backs rather than continue the drills against the linemen and tight ends.
The frustration between Fitzpatrick and the Flores administration continued to grow through training camp and into the season. Fitzpatrick was thrown back into the free safety role to start the season, despite having spent all training camp working as an in-the-box strong safety. After the game Fitzpatrick asked to be traded.
“We had a difference of opinion in my skill set and what he thought I could do and what I thought I could do,” Fitzpatrick told Bleacher Report. “It was going to get tough for me to show something to somebody they were choosing not to see. They didn’t give me the opportunity to show it, even though I had film that showed it. The losing and all that stuff? If I was put in the right position and we’re losing—because of decisions people made upstairs—it is what it is. I can only control how I play. That didn’t affect me at all.
“It was just a fact that I was being used the wrong way. And we had a difference of opinion between myself and the head coach.”
Fitzpatrick played one more game...
