The Miami Dolphins acquired safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in an NFL trade on June 30. But it wasn’t until Monday that the former Alabama All-American spoke publicly about being dealt to the Dolphins by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I know I haven’t addressed the media or posted on social media,” Fitzpatrick said at a press conference after Miami’s Monday practice at training camp. “One, I’m not a big social-media guy. You ain’t going to see me on there, period, point blank. Two, in no way, shape, or form was that an expression of frustration about coming back to Miami. Three, I want to thank the city of Pittsburgh, the fans of Pittsburgh. You guys treated me very well. I enjoyed my time there. I played with some great teammates. It was very unfortunate the way things ended, but it’s a part of the business, and I’m extremely extremely excited to be a Miami Dolphin.“Again, my my silence was not a reflection of how I felt about this team or this organization. I’ve been here in the building for about a week now, and I’m extremely excited about this season. I think we have a very, very high ceiling. We have a lot of young, hungry, passionate guys combined with a lot of guys who played a lot of games and have a lot of accolades, so this is an organization that I’m extremely proud to be a part of, and, again, my silence was nothing to do with with my feelings towards the Dolphins organization.”
The Dolphins obtained Fitzpatrick and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft from Pittsburgh in exchange for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith and a seventh-round selection in the 2027 NFL Draft.
The trade returned Fitzpatrick to his original NFL team. After using the 11th choice in the 2018 NFL Draft to add Fitzpatrick, Miami sent the safety, a 2020 fourth-round pick and a 2021 seventh-round pick to Pittsburgh for first- and fifth-round picks in 2020 and a sixth-round pick in 2021 on Sept. 16, 2019.
“How do I look back on it?” Fitzpatrick said about his first stint in Miami. “Just like any time you look back on life. I think there’s highs, there’s lows, there’s blessings, there’s pros, there’s cons. You see what I’m saying? But you learn from the blessings, you learn from the lessons and keep it pushing. …
“I would say I’m definitely a lot more emotionally mature. I think I was very emotionally unintelligent back then. And like I just said, I learned from my mistakes and I tried to grow in that area. I tried to get to know the people around me better and learn how to communicate, learn how to not communicate. …
“It’s very nostalgic. We played here two seasons ago, and I remember, like, pulling up to the stadium and walking on the field and I felt like I was like back in time. And it’s the same feeling, just being back down here.”
A two-time consensus All-American at Alabama, Fitzpatrick played on two CFP national-championship teams in two seasons with the Crimson Tide. He entered the NFL with aspirations to continue that success. While Fitzpatrick is a five-time Pro Bowler and a three-time first-team All-Pro, he played in four postseason games with Pittsburgh – all losses.
“I think as a player, I think I hit a lot of those marks that I want,” Fitzpatrick said. “But as a teammate, I haven’t won a playoff game, haven’t been to a Super Bowl, haven’t won a conference championship, so there’s a lot for me that I still want to accomplish. There’s still a lot left for me to check off the goal list.”
Fitzpatrick returns to Miami with the reputation as a defensive field general. While the defensive back knows what the Dolphins are expecting from him, he said he would need to work his way into that position with Miami.
“I’m just trying to make the right calls, be in the right place and get to know my teammates,” Fitzpatrick said. “And there’s definitely moments where I will have to speak up and communicate. But right now, I don’t want to come in and be overbearing. I want to get to know people before I tell them what to do or how to operate and earn their trust and earn their respect. And then once I get that, then, you know, I’ll be everything I need to be. …
“I think my favorite part is just getting to know everybody. I think I could come in here and make plays and have acrobatic catches and stuff like that and make great tackles. But if I don’t get to know my teammates, it has very little value. You know what I’m saying? Knowing them on and off the field because I’m a big believer in trusting the guys that are around you, and I don’t think that just happens on the field. I think it happens in the locker room, happens at dinner, during the week and stuff like that. So I think I’m just most excited about getting to know everybody good, bad and ugly and then using our knowledge and our trust and our communication to go out there and execute at a high level.”
The Dolphins start their 17-game regular-season slate on Sept. 7 against the Indianapolis Colts. Before that, Miami has preseason games against the Chicago Bears on Aug. 10, Detroit Lions on Aug. 16 and Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 23.