Minkah Fitzpatrick Seeks A Trade From The Miami Dolphins, Denver A Landing Spot For The Safety?

By Jordan Long

The Miami Dolphins are preparing to take on the New England Patriots this Sunday.  Miami is trying to avoid a 0-2 start.  The Dolphins decided to let Minkah Fitzpatrick explore a trade.  The Denver Broncos are a team that should explore a trade for him.

Fitzpatrick is in his 2^nd year in the NFL.  He was selected 11^th in the 2018 NFL Draft.  Last season, his rookie year, Fitzpatrick showed he could play in coverage.  When quarterbacks threw his way Fitzpatrick would make a play by deflecting the ball so the receiver couldn’t catch it.  He ended up with 9 passes defended.  Fitzpatrick also picked the ball off twice and returned one for a touchdown. He can tackle with a total of 80 tackles

                Last week, the Dolphins secondary was torched by the Baltimore Ravens offense giving up 59 points.  They allowed Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson to toss for 324 yards.  Miami gave up 378 passing yards to the Ravens offense. Fitzpatrick didn’t do much in pass coverage and wasn’t able to knock the ball away from the receivers.  He made tackles, though, ending with 6.

                The Denver Broncos are in need of secondary help.  They don’t know the health of Bryce Callahan who is expected to miss his second straight game dealing with a foot issue.  In the Broncos’ week 1 loss against Oakland, Denver tried using Isaac Yiadom on the opposite side of Chris Harris. 

                Yiadom struggled in pass coverage.  Oakland’s quarterback Derek Carr picked on his side of the field.  Yiadom was always playing behind the receiver and Carr found his receiver which usually went for long gains of 10 plus yards.  It wasn’t all Yiadom’s fault since he didn’t have safety help in coverage.  Denver wasn’t able to make adjustments to help on his side of the field. Yiadom ended the game with 8 tackles

                Fitzpatrick might help Denver’s defense if they can’t trust Yiadom in the lineup. Fitzpatrick is a safety and could help in coverage on Yiadom’s side of the ball.  He should be able to defend passes to prevent long gains.

                The problem is the asking price.  The Dolphins may want a 1^st-round pick in the 2020 Draft, a high asking price.  This is a lot for Denver to give up.  A future 1^st-round pick might be a starter for years to come.  If they can lower the price to a 3^rd or 4^th round pick, then they should make the agreement.  Denver needs to figure out how to make the secondary improved from week 1 and Fitzpatrick could be the answer.