Minkah traded to Steelers!

WOW!! The Steelers just traded us a first for Minkah!

I never thought we'd get a first, and this one should be a top 15 pick. Apparently the Chiefs were coming on strong, but the Steelers stepped up.

Minkah has a ton of talent, but he has certainly not played at a #11 overall level, and he's been a whining "me first" player. It would have been great if we could have worked it out with him, but at the end of the day he wanted out - so fuck 'im.

Grier wheelin' and dealin' like a motherfukkin' BOSS!!!! We are STACKED in the draft...absolutely STACKED. Now, don't screw it up!

Giving credit where it is due...rightchea broke this news in another thread:

by rightchea Today at 10:36 pm

adam wells wrote:
Minkah Fitzpatrick's trade request was granted Monday when the Miami Dolphins agreed to deal the second-year safety to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2020 first-round draft pick, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Seth Walder of ESPN provided some perspective on how much value the first-rounder could net the Dolphins:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2853567-report-minkah-fitzpatrick-traded-to-steelers-dolphins-receive-2020-1st-rounder

Well folks 0-16 here we come....Miami has just gotten three first round picks

Steelers and Phins also traded picks: Pitt gets a 4th and 7th, we get a 5th and 6th.

Wow.

So as of right now, for 2020:

1st Round (3)
2nd Round (2)
3rd Round (1--with a compensatory pick in this round likely to make it 2)
5th Round (1)
6th Round (3)

We are now missing a 4th and a 7th, but still, likely to have 7 in the first 3 rounds and 11 picks overall.

Figured he'd get with the program, but not unhappy to get what has a better than average chance to be solid compensation for him.

I have to say...it's really strange, as a Dolfan, to be on the winning side of so many trades. This is uncharted territory for us. Grier and his staff have done a helluva job getting premium value in these deals.

We'll see what the trade values really are when the picks come in. It's great to have them though.

while i still would've liked to see something worked out so that Minkah's skills could've been used to the best of their abilities and it appears the team would've preferred him to stay, but the relationship was damaged beyond repair.

The Dolphins tried to convince Fitzpatrick to withdraw his trade request, but could not persuade him to change his mind, according to a club source. And Miami ultimately did not want to keep a player who did not want to be here.

Fitzpatrick, selected 11th overall in the 2018 draft, was unhappy about his role since the start of training camp, according to multiple sources. Fitzpatrick said Miami asked him to learn six positions - both safety spots, both cornerback positions and two linebacker spots.

Fitzpatrick said he needed to be at different weights to thrive at certain positions and would have preferred focusing on a couple of positions instead of having his role change significantly each week.

He led the league in passer rating against among all slot cornerbacks as a rookie last season, but the new coaching staff decided not to have him focus on that role specifically.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article235163232.html

but given that teams knew he wanted out of Miami, it is a very good job by the front office to be able to still get a 1st rounder in exchange for him

Unfortunately, during a rebuild you have to make tough decisions. Good players that don't fit the system or don't buy-in to the system have to go. Minkah refused to buy-in, and we did a great job getting max value for him. We need versatile players that are willing to do whatever it takes to make this scheme work, and Minkah simply didn't want to take on that challenge.

JMP wrote:Steelers and Phins also traded picks: Pitt gets a 4th and 7th, we get a 5th and 6th.

Update: the 4th and 5th swap is in 2020, and the 6th and 7th swap is in 2021.

I thought it was interesting insight, a poster on Twitter with the handle "Joe_W" had this to say:

(having trouble copying/pasting)

"Initially I hated the Minkah pick. I thought he was a player without position. Changed my mind in the preseason last year, but then by midseason still struggled to identify what position he plays."

"Ironically, this matched my conclusion after watching college tape. What is he? At Alabama a slot CB/LB/SS. Would that translate? No."

"The opportunity with the pick from PIT is to find a player that plays an impact position and a high number of snaps. DE/OT/OL/DT/CB."

None of this to *bash* Minkah. I loved the player, and I felt like this staff would carve out a creative role for him based on matchups. Long term, I think this would have worked very well.

I'm left with two major take aways:

1. For *whatever* reason, Minkah is disenchanted with the Dolphins. Enough so that he felt it would be best for him, and his NFL career, to move on to another team. The Dolphins clearly valued him, which is why they tried so hard to change his mind (even Ross talked to him).

2. This is the best outcome for both parties. Minkah gets a fresh start, Dolphins get equivalent value in a draft where they MUST land their franchise QB. This trumps eveything else. If the draft were held TODAY we have the #3 overall pick. We may very well HAVE to trade up if the season does not play out perfectly.

white1 wrote:For *whatever* reason, Minkah is disenchanted with the Dolphins.  Enough so that he felt it would be best for him, and his NFL career, to move on to another team.  The Dolphins clearly valued him, which is why they tried so hard to change his mind (even Ross talked to him).

good point white1. there may indeed be more to Minkah wanting out. after all, it appears he is headed to Pittsburgh to do something he didn't want to do in Miami.

Here’s the ironic part for Fitzpatrick: The Steelers made the trade presumably to improve their safety position. And the trade comes at a time when free safety Sean Davis is nursing a labrum injury.

Except, you just read Fitzpatrick told the Dolphins he wanted to play nickel or boundary cornerback. So he could be headed to a position in Pittsburgh he didn’t want to play in Miami.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article235164097.html

i'm wondering if there is more to the story.

Who wants to play for a loser? The guy is in the prime of his career and for the next 2 or 3 years is expected to endure 40 point losses as a D leader. There is NOTHING in the pipeline except draft picks and rooster spots. How do you buy into that?

JEGnj wrote:Who wants to play for a loser? The guy is in the prime of his career and for the next 2 or 3 years is expected to endure 40 point losses as a D leader.  There is NOTHING in the pipeline except draft picks and rooster spots. How do you buy into that?

Well, he's going to be playing for a loser now anyway - the Steelers aren't winning jack any time soon.

When you say there's "NOTHING in the pipeline except draft picks and roster spots"...that is EXACTLY what's in the pipeline: draft picks and money. No other team in the entire league is set up to improve as quickly and efficiently as the Dolphins. And they're doing it in a way that will be sustainable...it's a long-term plan, not a one-year shot.

As for Minkah being a "D leader"...he's NEVER shown any leadership in Miami, and his teammates didn't vote him as a captain. He's done nothing but bitch and complain...not a team player at all. Maybe he'll grow up in Pittsburgh.

I always give credence to proven players rather than the "POTENTIAL" represented by draft picks.

Minkah obviously has a lot of people who believe he can play in the NFL (even the Phins),  and there is absolutely no assurance the player or players the Phins get with these draft picks is gonna be worth a tumbleterd IMO.

I said when Dave Dumbstedt foolishly let Wes Welker go, trading a proven player for picks is a quick way to ruin your roster. Especially when you were drafting like the Phins were drafting with Dumbstedt at the helm.

We all know the story with the Phins for this season, but all things considered, I would have much preferred to keep Fitzpatrick.

If Grier hits homeruns with all three first rounders next year, then maybe I will be proven wrong, but I still say the odds are not all the 1st round picks are gonna be able to play at the level Fitzpatrick would have been able to play at given time IMO.

We shall see.

Yeah, just the Phins luck to go 0-16 and NOT Get the first overall pick!!!

 

Welker was different, because the Patriots' offer sheet to him included a "poison pill" that made it impossible for us to match. And the trade wouldn't have been bad if we hadn't screwed up the picks we received! Hopefully we'll do a MUCH better job this time!

Bottom line here, though, is that Minkah didn't want to be a Dolphin. So, Grier and his staff got the best deal they could for him...which could end being a pick equal to or better than where he was originally drafted. It's a win-win - Minkah gets what he wanted, and the Phins get a 1st round pick.

And for the record, Minkah has been a bit of a bust in Miami. He's not at all the player we expected, and in a re-draft I'm not sure he'd even go in the first...certainly not #11.

TBH this was way better than I thought it would be Miami was able to get not only a first round pick for a guy that didnt want to play for Miami but the fact that the Steelers might fall within the top 15 that Miami could use that pick and pick up an 2nd or 3rd to replace what they got from the Steelers. now that an amazing job.....

mercury22nathan wrote:

white1 wrote:For *whatever* reason, Minkah is disenchanted with the Dolphins.

good point white1.  there may indeed be more to Minkah wanting out.  after all, it appears he is headed to Pittsburgh to do something he didn't want to do in Miami.

white1 you are definitely on to something. i'm starting to think *whatever* the reason was, it goes beyond merely not being played in his preferred position.

“The player expressed it was time for him to change [teams],” Grier said Tuesday. “We tried to make it work. Myself, [coach] Brian [Flores], [team owner] Steve [Ross] had multiple conversations with him, saying we wanted him here and he was a core piece. The kid felt it was time for him to move.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article234832277.html

so even after the team (all the way up to owner) begged him to stay, he still wouldn't stay. first, NFL GMs are rarely this candid. so i gotta think they really, really wanted him to stay. and they "tried to make it work" almost sounds like they were willing let him have a say in what position he would play. and he supposedly was happy with his role against NE.

In a conversation with Pittsburgh media on Wednesday, Minkah Fitzpatrick declined to explain what went wrong with the Dolphins but said he’s fine doing whatever Steelers coach Mike Tomlin asks of him.

Tomlin plans to play him exclusively at free safety when Pittsburgh plays at San Francisco at Sunday. As colleague Armando Salguero reported, Fitzpatrick told the Dolphins he only wanted to play slot or boundary cornerback or both.

“I think right now it’s important to anchor me down because I’m learning an entirely new system,” Fitzpatrick said. “Once I learn the system more, I’ll be able to move around a little bit. It’s part of my game. It’s one of the reasons they wanted me around.”

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article235240412.html

so now, he's willing to play a position in Pitt that he would not in Miami and he is willing to "move around" and "doing whatever Steelers coach Mike Tomlin asks of him" despite not supposedly being willing to do those same things for Flores. so what gives? why this loathing of Flores to point of nothing less than getting away from him even if it means happily doing things you reportedly don't want to do elsewhere? yes, there is definitely more to this story.

Getting rid of all the guys who don't buy in happens with every regime change. It's just that we are used to getting pennies on the dollar in every one of those transactions over the last 20 years or so. We're finally getting good value back, it's refreshing.

HalCHorn wrote:Getting rid of all the guys who don't buy in happens with every regime change.  It's just that we are used to getting pennies on the dollar in every one of those transactions over the last 20 years or so.  We're finally getting good value back, it's refreshing.

agreed. i am especially happy that this front office was able to take what was such a public situation and turn it into something of value. everyone knew there was problem the Phins had to address and yet they still were able to squeeze first rounder out of Pittsburgh.

i'm just curious why Minkah was so adamant about getting out. it seems to go beyond merely being asked to play multiple positions if he's happy to do that in Pitt in addition to playing a position he supposedly wouldn't in Miami (FS).

We'll probably never know the full story. All that matters at this point is we got rid of an underachieving player that wouldn't buy-in, and we added another first round pick.

I actually heard he was upset about covering certain type of receivers. He did not want to cover the Gronk type physical TE’s and did not want to cover the speedy Hollywood Brown types. He wanted to cover the Edelman types. If this is true, I have heard it all now.

scotgif wrote:I actually heard he was upset about covering certain type of receivers. He did not want to cover the Gronk type  physical TE’s and did not want to cover the speedy Hollywood Brown types. He wanted to cover the Edelman types. If this is true, I have heard it all now.

Wow! That's so weak if true. Do your job, man! I don't want players like that on my team.

Hearing that a lot of Steelers fan and former player call this trade as one of the worst trade that has ever happened in this decade. They are not liking the fact that Miami got a 1st round pick for Minkah. I think Miami did well with this trade.

JMP wrote:Welker was different, because the Patriots' offer sheet to him included a "poison pill" that made it impossible for us to match.  And the trade wouldn't have been bad if we hadn't screwed up the picks we received!  Hopefully we'll do a MUCH better job this time!

No, the point was it should NEVER have come to losing Welker, and if Dumbstedt wasn't a complete personnel dufus, it would not have.

And the draft is a crapshoot.

Bottom line here, though, is that Minkah didn't want to be a Dolphin.  

True dat. Probably the best thing for the Phins.

finfanatic wrote:

No, the point was it should NEVER have come to losing Welker, and if Dumbstedt wasn't a complete personnel dufus, it would not have.

 

I don't know...it's not like Welker was a superstar in Miami.  He was an average receiver, at best, and probably would have stayed that way if he didn't go to New England.  Sure, the Phins could have tried to negotiate a contract before he became a restricted FA, but they did tender him at the second-round amount of $1.35 million, which was pretty high all things considered.  Looking back at it now, getting a 2nd rounder for Welker at that time wasn't bad at all.  The bad part was pissing that pick away.