The Kansas City Chiefs have the ultimate trade target now available to them if they’re able to beat 31 other NFL teams to the punch in the form of Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The Miami Dolphins fire sale continues. It’s now time for the Kansas City Chiefs to grab their cart.
The Dolphins, in the miserable early stages of their season-long goal to completely tank, have already sent several assets packing via release or trade. Laremy Tunsil was the biggest prize traded away for a nice draft bounty from the Houston Texans, but the Fins are not without other potential trade assets to lure in teams for further picks and financial freedom.
For a team like the Chiefs, secondary help is going to be paramount for any trade made before the NFL’s deadline at midseason. To that end, the Dolphins have two players whose names have been tossed about: Xavien Howard, the most popular, and Minkah Fitzpatrick, the most recent.
Fitzpatrick is reportedly frustrated with his role on the field with new head coach Brian Flores (former New England Patriots defensive assistant) and has been granted permission to seek a trade.
Minkah Fitzpatrick is coming off his worst NFL game. He believes that's partly b/c of position uncertainty. He played 3-4 positions Sunday, and was told his role would continue to change. He's become increasingly frustrated.
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) September 13, 2019
Trade not a guarantee right now but permission given.
This doesn’t mean anything will happen. The Dolphins are under zero obligation to move him at all, and the impetus is placed now on Fitzpatrick’s reps to find a willing trade partner with the resources to give Miami something they would want in return. It would likely take a lot, perhaps a first round pick or even a bit more, but something around that target will be the final price.
While either Howard or Fitzpatrick would be a welcome addition, it’s the latter that could be perfect for the Chiefs and where they are at.
THE COST
As a former first round pick just last year, Fitzpatrick is under contract for the next three seasons plus the fifth round option held by the team that controls him. That would put Fitzpatrick in Kansas City conceivably for the same amount of time as Tyreek Hill, who just signed a new three-year extension of his own.
Bringing in a big-time corner like Howard is going to add another major burden on a payroll that’s already preparing to be taxed by defensive lineman Chris Jones, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and (potentially) cornerback Kendall Fuller (if they extend him). Howard comes with an annual cap hit of well over $13 million for the next four years. A single year of Howard would equal 2x more than what the Chiefs would have to pay Fitzpatrick for the next 3 years.
The weirdest part of this Minkah Fitzpatrick thing:
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) September 13, 2019
Miami's on the hook for more dead cap in his bonus money than he's owed in new game checks over the next three years.
So they would basically be trading Fitzpatrick on a three-year, $6M contract for the team that lands him.
THE NEED
Fitzpatrick was a versatile first-round pick just last year by the Dolphins out of Alabama. The Chiefs love their versatile defensive backs, and Fitzpatrick would give Steve Spagnuolo a weapon who can line up inside or outside, at safety or corner. The Chiefs chose Juan Thornhill and signed Tyrann Mathieu in part because their flexibility gives Spags all kinds of options at the table.
The Chiefs need help at outside cornerback and that’s the challenge for Fitzpatrick at this point. Can he play out there? Or is it worth moving Kendall Fuller out there full time to allow Fitzpatrick to play inside? This is the major question to ask in the midst of all of this.
Then again, Fitzpatrick could even be a way to let Fuller walk after his contract is up if they’d rather replace him with someone cheap in the middle. In the interim, he’d be another talented cornerback to add to the mix (however they want to play him and Morris Claiborne), and he gives them major options for the future given his youth.
Speaking of his youth, Fitzpatrick is only 22 years old. He’s still got a lot of growth ahead of him at the pro level, which means his best is to come. That’s a lot of control for an ascending player at a position of need for a cost that makes sense—for now and later.