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The Miami Dolphins held media availability on Wednesday, and it marked the first such session since Tuesday’s rather stunning news that the team was benching starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for Tua Tagovaila.
Fitzpatrick spoke about the decision and was in a bit of shock over everything.
Ryan Fitzpatrick: "I basically got fired yesterday and today my day consisted of zoom meetings with the guy that fired me and sitting in a room with the guy who replaced me for four hours."
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 21, 2020
oooof
Here's the video of Ryan Fitzpatrick zoom conference.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) October 21, 2020
He also added: "I've been benched for all kinds of different ways but this was kind of the first place other than Buffalo that I've been fully committed and invested. I felt like it was my team." pic.twitter.com/tFOZjmCsCu
Fitzpatrick said he has not asked for a trade, but also said he prefers playing to sitting and watching. And that brings us to a fast approaching NFL trade deadline. The last day to make trades is Tuesday, November 3. Rumors will start to circulate in the coming days across the league, and it’s safe to say Fitzpatrick’s name will be mentioned with some regularity. It does not mean he is definitively being shopped, but rumors have never needed truth behind them to pick up steam.
The Dolphins have a bye this week and then face the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. That gives them two weeks of practice and one game to get a better handle on Tua before the trade deadline. That likely is not enough time to make a decision to trade Fitzpatrick, but if Miami is fully ready to move forward with Tua as “the guy, a Fitzpatrick trade would not be entirely surprising.
If Miami was definitively playing for the playoffs this year, Fitzpatrick’s strong start would seem to be enough to to keep him in the starting job. The decision to make the switch would seem to indicate the team is fine taking some lumps this year to get Tua significant starting experience.
There is always room for a quality backup in this league. The Dallas Cowboys make the most sense and will likely be mentioned regularly over the next two weeks. They are contenders in a bad NFC East, and given how poorly Andy Dalton performed this past week against the Arizona Cardinals, they’ll at least be mentioned in connection.