Kelly: Minkah Fitzpatrick has found a new home in a familiar place | Opinion
It’s funny how life unfolds sometimes.
Minkah Fitzpatrick demanded a trade from the Miami Dolphins six years ago because he wanted to avoid playing exactly how he’s being used in the Dolphins’ secondary this season, splitting his snaps as a nickel cornerback and a safety.
Maybe whom he had to take a back seat to then (converted cornerback Bobby McCain), and who asked him to fill that role (former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who had a my-way-or-the-highway approach), had a lot to do with the former Alabama standout requesting a trade two games into his second season.
Less than 24 hours after the request, Fitzpatrick was shipped to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a first-round pick in 2020 and a swap of four late-round selections, and the Steelers turned him into a five-time Pro Bowler.
But here we are in 2025, the three-time NFL All-Pro safety has returned to the franchise which initially selected him 11th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, and he has found a way to embrace the exact role that made him leave Miami.
“When I first got back on the field in Miami I felt like I jumped into a time portal machine,” said Fitzpatrick, who pulled down a game-sealing interception on a two-point conversion and returned it 99 yards to put Miami ahead by four points in the final minutes of Sunday’s 21-17 victory against the New Orleans Saints. “I felt like I went back in time and rekindled all those relationships, and got to work.”
That work involved rebranding himself, showing the world he’s still an elite defensive back. To prove that Fitzpatrick needed to become more versatile.
That’s where the nickel role comes in.
This season he has played slightly more snaps as Miami’s nickel cornerback, defending slot receivers and athletic tight ends, than he has at free safety, a role that’s shared by Fitzpatrick, Ashtyn Davis, Ifeatu Melifonwu and rookie safety Dante Trader Jr.
That wasn’t the plan coming into the season, but season-ending injuries to Kader Kohou, Artie Burns, and Cornell Armstrong suffered, and a hamstring injury that sidelined rookie cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. for more than a month forced Fitzpatrick into the nickel spot.
And as the season progressed, he grew to appreciate it.
“I like moving around. I like doing different things,” Fitzpatrick said, explaining the benefits of being used as Miami’s nickel cornerback, which typically lines up closer to the ball and on the line of scrimmage. “I like being closer to the action. I like what we’ve got going right now.”
At this point Fitzpatrick, whose family never relocated from South Florida after moving here for his rookie season, has become the X-factor for the Dolphins’ defense because offensive coordinators don’t know how he’s going to be used after the snap, which creates some identification issues on numerous plays.
“Whether he’s a safety or a nickel, that’s something teams have to prepare for. They have to prepare for a football player that he had production on blitzes, he had production on zone drop tackles,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “He’s an aggressive communicator. Really through[out] the whole secondary. He’s the guy that his peers [respect].”
The talk in Pittsburgh, which traded him to Miami for Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Pro Bowl tight end Jonnu Smith and a swap of late-round picks, was that Fitzpatrick had lost a step.
He turned 29 last month and there’s a perception that he’s nowhere near the playmaker he was earlier in his career.
But this season has proven that theory is more of a myth than fact.
Fitzpatrick is third on the team with 65 tackles. He has also contributed one interception, one forced fumble and recovered two fumbles this season. Last week he registered his first NFL sack.
Coincidentally, his statistics are on par with Ramsey, who has contributed 65 tackles, one interception and two sacks in the 12 games he has played for the Steelers, used in a similar role as Fitzpatrick.
Opposing quarterbacks have a 112.0 passer rating when throwing to receivers and tight ends Ramsey’s responsible for. They have a 77.4 passer rating based on the 743 defensive snaps Fitzpatrick has played for Miami this season.
“Usually, as guys age they start to move further back,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said, referring to defensive backs, who sometimes move to safety because they have lost a step. “Because he has such a high FBI [football intelligence], [he] knows how to play to his skill set regardless of opponent.
“I think he can play [nickel] as long as he wants,” Weaver continued. “He’s one of those guys where I wouldn’t say there was anything he couldn’t do because if he puts his mind to it, he’s going to get it done.”
