Ryan Fitzpatrick, who ended this season by leading to the Dolphins to a victory in what may have been Tom Brady’s final regular-season game playing for the Patriots, will be back in 2020.
A 16-year veteran who was in the same draft class as Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith in 2005, the Harvard graduate will return to Miami as he is still under contract with the Dolphins and is guaranteed $4 million of his $8 million salary in 2020.
“It was a crazy roller coaster at the beginning of the year. There were a lot more dips on the down than up. It showed a lot for Brian Flores as a first-time head coach to keep the team, keep us interested, keep the intensity and practices at high level and even attention level of the guys.,” Fitzpatrick told ESPN on Friday morning. “To finish 5-4 like we did over the last nine games was an amazing testament to the guys we had in the locker room and Brian Flores as a head coach playing aggressive and keeping us together.”
Next season with the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick could serve as a mentor to a young quarterback like Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa if Miami opts to select him in the draft.
Known for having the highest Wonderlic Test score ever achieved among NFL quarterbacks, Fitzpatrick has suited up for eight teams during his career (Dolphins, Bengals, Bills, Texans, Titans, Jets, Buccaneers, Rams), including every team in the AFC East other than New England.
The 37-year-old has a career record of 55-83-1 as a starter and has gone. 500 or worse in every one of his seasons as a starting quarterback except one (2015 with the Jets).
Though Fitzpatrick has 210 touchdowns and 161 interceptions on his resume, none of them have come in the postseason as he’s never been the quarterback for a playoff team.
Consistently mediocre but also almost always healthy enough to play, Fitzpatrick is kind of like the quarterback equivalent of Frank Gore, another member of the class of 2005 who intends to keep playing in 2020 — possibly with the Dolphins.
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