Minkah Fitzpatrick available...if the price is right

patsrj · Sep 13, 2019

If the right price is a 2nd round pick ok..
But the dolphins won't trade him to us anyway

TheRainMaker · Sep 13, 2019

Would rather trade for an O-lineman or TE.

Betterthanmost · Sep 13, 2019

They can trade him to some other team and we will work with him to get cut? No? Too soon? This will be hard due to waiver wire. Hmmm... what can he do that will scare others enough away.

SBLIII · Sep 13, 2019

TheRainMaker said:
Would rather trade for an O-lineman or TE.

trading for a good player on a rookie deal is pretty nice though. If you can find a good young OL on rookie deal even better though

zydecochris · Sep 13, 2019

Digit said:
From what I read on reddit, the impression I got with M. Fitzpatrick was that they may have overloaded him with like 5-6 different -roles- on defense immediately... he's been covering slot, CB, FS, SS, and some LB roles.

If redditor comments are anything to go by (big if), his strengths are being misused at SS, where he's being primarily used, instead of letting him be more FS/CB. (And I got the impression he really didn't like SS.)

In other words, it sounds like they're trying to use him as Pat Chung instead of Devin McCourty.

The reason this story sounds so strange is that at Alabama he WAS the Swiss Army knife. He just seemed to be smarter than anyone else and he learned how to play multiple positions in the secondary even very early on. His positional versatility and football smarts was the thing that stood out so much about him at Alabama. That said, he normally was playing cornerback, Star (Alabama's version of Nickleback) and free safety. I don't think he played Strong Safety too often (like he is under Flores) and definitely not Linebacker (Flores is playing him there too).

During the game against the Ravens, Flores played him at 4 different positions DURING THE SAME GAME. And, he and the rest of the Miami defenders were roasted, and he had an absolutely lousy game.

This is a guy that played on a team that won the National Championship one year he played and lost in the National Championship game another year he played. He doesn't seem like the type of player to be happy on a team that so clearly seems to be tanking, I suspect that is the real reason for his unhappiness.

luuked · Sep 13, 2019

zydecochris said:
During the game against the Ravens, Flores played him at 4 different positions DURING THE SAME GAME.

Which is what some elite safeties have to do on a single drive. Not sure why you had to write it in upper case letters. Being able to do that is what you'd expect from someone (almost) picked in the top 10 of the first round where all the blue chipper are going.

patsrj · Sep 13, 2019

TheRainMaker said:
Would rather trade for an O-lineman or TE.

It would be a pipe dream, but the Bucs have 4 TE and were not using a lot of OJ Howard last night, manly as a blocking TE..

BadMoFo · Sep 13, 2019

Belichick is talking a lot about Fitzpatrick at his Friday news conference, seems like he's followed his career and maybe there could be interest.

WaterfallJumper · Sep 13, 2019

Patsgofor4 said:
I’m not sure that I follow. He had a strong rookie year and at the beginning of the off-season was thought to be one of their building blocks for the future. It sounds as though Flores and the coaching staff perhaps put too much on his plate. And when you say that his deficiencies are “now are more regularly exposed” are you talking about week 1 of this season, because it does not sound like he was exposed regularly during his rookie year?

The Flores designed defense just gave up 59 points, 325 yards passing and 5 passing TDs to a team led by a quarterback who averaged fewer than 180 yards passing per game last year during his 7 games as a starter. During those seven games, Jackson threw a total of six passing TDs. How do we know that Belichick did not hide a lot of Flores’ deficiencies, which were exposed week 1? That is not fair to Flores but it is similarly unfair to seemingly dismiss Fitzpatrick as a first round mistake based upon one horrific game playing in a new system for a team that is a dumpster fire right now. It is very possible that Belichick would handle Fitzpatrick very differently.

For a lot of reasons it likely won’t happen but talking about at a minimum serves as a brief diversion from the Antonio Brown.

Since you didn't opt for the long version, I'll skip the breakdown of numerous college games. If Bill thinks he's a good reclamation project -- which I would have agreed with other than his attitude -- then I'll dive into that discussion and highlight some positives and negatives. If he buys in, then he could be a McCourty type, but I don't trust his tackling the same way. Instead, let's just look at the catches he gave up week one.

I'm not sure where this video is hosted, so I'll just link to the Reddit thread. None of these plays Fitzpatrick gave up are because he was forced to play one position vs another. They're because he either played with bad technique and gave up leverage, or he just got beat by good route runners. They're running free on him, and it's not just the defensive playcall.

He particularly struggled with drag routes to the TE. For whatever reason, #89 always has a step or two on him. Maybe it's because Fitzpatrick is overthinking his responsibilities, or taking too long to communicate with his teammates, but at some point you just need to stay on your man.

His play at Alabama wasn't that different. He spent a lot of time in the slot and had minimal responsibilities, but he still gave up separation in man coverage. And, yes, I can create gifs if you're interested in seeing examples. It's littered throughout his tape. That's not to say he can't be a good player, only that his versatility is his strength, and he's best when he can see the action and drive on the ball.

Marqui · Sep 13, 2019

JMC00 said:
He doesnt want to be versatile and he doesn't want to be a safety. He wants to be strictly a slot CB. Which the Pats just signed their slot CB to an extension

This dude is more insane than Antonio Brown if he thinks he was drafted 11th overall to play slot CB.

ashley · Sep 13, 2019

We have the best secondary in the league, not worth a 1 or 2 that they are asking for.

Kdo5 · Sep 13, 2019

Great player, we also have zero need for him.

Kontradiction · Sep 13, 2019

Patsgofor4 said:
Belichick’s multiple coaching tree failures say hi. After the Dolphins week 1 debacle, I think it is fair to wonder whether Flores really played a major role in the improvement of the patriots defense late in the year and in the playoffs, or whether it was all/mostly Belichick. I remember reading an article about the Amoeba defense and one of the defensive players commented about how involved BB was with strategy and game planning, compared with prior years.

We won’t know the answer about Flores for another two years but regardless, the fact that Flores may not be high on Fitzpatrick does not mean that he is utilizing him correctly or utilizing him in the same manner that the Hoodie would. On the other hand they almost certainly watched Dolphins film together last year and if BB was raving about Fitzpatrick and his potential, that probably would have made an impact on Flores.

PS. Based upon all the stories that I have read, BB was not upset at Flores for signing on with a division “rival” and taking some of his assistants with him.
Maybe he felt that Flores was ready and this was an opportunity that he could not pass up.

Alternatively, he may have told Flores that he was not ready but Flores felt that this was an opportunity that he could not pass up, especially financially, for family security.

Or maybe, just maybe, BB thought that Flores was not ready and was confident that he would fail and still encouraged him to take the job ( or at least did not discourage him). That would be an obvious win for the Patriots on the field for the next 2+ years but Flores would still have the same financial security and would find himself employed once again in the league, possibly as a DC, after being fired in Miami. Or maybe I’m just projecting because that is something that I would do in BB’s position.

He’s shooting his way off of a team coached by an individual from BB coaching tree in part because he does not like the idea of having multiple assignments/jobs/responsibilities. Yes or no - does he sound like a fit for the New England Patriots to you?

patsbrasilpatriotas · Sep 13, 2019

-: We don't really ''need'' him.
+: Very cheap. DMac is a FA next year and will be very expensive. If we could ship Harmon and a pick. Maybe a 1st and Harmon for him and a 4th would be ideal.

Boston Boxer · Sep 13, 2019

not a BB type player. i would pass

BradyFTW! · Sep 13, 2019

Normally I'd say no thanks purely because we don't really need any more secondary depth, but if he's traded his contract becomes super, super cheap for whatever team acquires him since all of his prorated signing bonus will be staying with the Dolphins.

Could be an opportunity to make a position of strength even stronger for cheap, and the Pats are pretty old at safety all things considered so Belichick might see this as an opportunity to plan for the future at the position. Especially with DMac having already floated retirement openly this past offseason, the urgency of finding safety help looking into the future has to have become considerably more of a priority. Realistically, though, I think some other team that needs secondary help a lot more than we do will make a much better offer than the Pats are willing to.

I also expect that Belichick may talk directly to Flores about Fitzpatrick, to figure out why Flores is so willing to let him go in the first place. If he's not Flores' kind of guy, he may well not be Belichick's either.

luuked · Sep 13, 2019

patsbrasilpatriotas said:
DMac is a FA next year and will be very expensive.

What do you think is the market for a (then) 33yr old FS ?

Sciz · Sep 13, 2019

Fitzpatrick spent only 17.5% of his snaps as a deep safety last season and reportedly wants to be a slot corner going forward. That makes Jones’ extension a lot more relevant than McCourty’s age.

SBLIII · Sep 13, 2019

luuked said:
What do you think is the market for a (then) 33yr old FS ?

not a big one. If we want to extend I think we could get Dmac at a reduced price.

luuked · Sep 13, 2019

BradyFTW! said:
I also expect that Belichick may talk directly to Flores about Fitzpatrick, to figure out why Flores is so willing to let him go in the first place. If he's not Flores' kind of guy, he may well not be Belichick's either.

Why would Flores purposefully tank the value of the player who wants off the team even further by giving BB any insight ?

Those two are ruthless competitors now especially because they are in the same division.

Minkah Fitzpatrick available...if the price is right

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