Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier said at a Tuesday press conference that the team didn’t want to trade defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick and tried to get him to rescind his trade request, but Fitzpatrick was adamant about wanting out and the team got a 2020 first-round pick from the Steelers as part of a deal consummated on Monday night.
Grier also said that they didn’t want to trade left tackle Laremy Tunsil, but that the Texans kept pursuing him and that the final offer from Houston, which included two first-round picks and a second-rounder, was too good to pass up. Grier said Tunsil told him “I would trade me for that” when he saw what the G.M. called a “historic haul.”
Those trade leave the Dolphins even shorter on talent after being beaten by a combined scored of 102-10 in the fist two weeks. It also gives Miami five picks in the first two rounds of next year’s draft and Grier said that is part of a picture that leaves the team “positioned to be in a good place soon.”
Another part of that picture is a vast amount of cap space and Grier vowed to “be aggressive” in using money to augment any players acquired through the draft.
“We can do anything we want,” Grier said.
He also said that no other players have requested trades at this point and that he’s confident Brian Flores is the right coach to lead the team through its current doldrums. What the future will look like will have something to do with how young players develop over the rest of this season and a lot to do with what Grier does with all of the capital that’s in his possession for the offseason.