FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 29: Ryan Fitzpatrick #14 of the Miami Dolphins smiles as he leaves the field after the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Dolphins defeat the Patriots 27-24. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Ryan Fitzpatrick wants to return to the Miami Dolphins and he would represent the perfect bridge to Tua Tagovailoa should they draft him in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Dolphins need Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fitzpatrick needs the Dolphins.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said he spoke with Fitzpatrick and he expects him to re-sign with the Dolphins.
That would be a great move for Miami after they saw him carry the team to five wins with a depleted roster that traded away their top talents. Signing Fitzpatrick would make even more sense if the Dolphins end up drafting Tua Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft.
Fitzpatrick feels right in Miami and they really love him there. The fans were checked out last season, but he brought a different energy to Hard Rock Stadium. This feels like a match made in Heaven for Fitzpatrick, for Tua and for the Dolphins in the short-term and the long-term.
Tagovailoa is going rehabbing a fractured hip he suffered late in mid-November. The injury will prevent him from working out at the combine, but he hopes to win his medical.
Miami has a bounty of picks acquired through trades of Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kenyan Drake so they can take the risk on drafting Tua.
Re-signing Fitzpatrick also gives them the insurance policy to allow Tua to “redshirt” his rookie season and fully recover from his injury.
Besides the on-field impact of having Fitzpatrick be the bridge option at quarterback is the off-field impact he can have on Tua in the quarterback room and in the locker room.
Fitzpatrick has dealt with adversity throughout his career. Whether it was proving a quarterback out of Harvard can play in the NFL to coming off the bench to have success to losing his job for lack of success and a yo-yo effect of starting and coming off the bench to save the team, Fitzpatrick has been through the wars of the NFL.
Tua hasn’t had to experience much adversity in his short career until the injury hit. Fitzpatrick is the perfect veteran to tutor Tua and bring him along with the intention of Tua being the Day 1 starter in 2021.
But for 2020, that should be Fitzpatrick’s job.