Ryan Fitzpatrick is on his way out of Tampa Bay, but won’t be leaving the state of Florida anytime soon.
The former Buccaneers’ starting quarterback, who was known for his 3-game stint last season in which he threw for over 400 yards against the New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers, has signed a 2-year deal with the Miami Dolphins per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
With Fitzpatrick now leaving Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers are left with incumbent starter Jameis Winston and recently resigned Ryan Griffin on the roster as the club’s remaining signal callers. Fitzpatrick will very likely become Miami’s starter for the 2019 season under first-year Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores.
The new deal for Fitzpatrick is worth up to $11-million according to Schefter and it gives Miami the starting quarterback is sorely needs after recently trading away former starter Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans. The former Buffalo Bills/New York Jets’ starter came to Tampa Bay to backup and mentor Winston in 2017 but with the latter serving a 3-game suspension to start 2018 campaign, Fitzpatrick put the league on notice in his three starts.
‘FitzMagic’ threw for 1,230 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first three games and added a fourth 400-yard game against the Washington Redskins later in the season. He made his last appearance for Tampa Bay on Nov. 18th against the New York Giants, in which Fitzpatrick went 13-of-21, 167 yards and three interceptions. Winston replaced him after halftime and remained the starter for the rest of the season.
Miami’s quarterback room prior to signing Fitzpatrick was down to Luke Falk and Jake Rudock, whom have five pass attempts in the NFL between the two players.
