Who Won the Tunsil, Tannehill & Fitzpatrick Trades? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Who Won the Tunsil, Tannehill & Fitzpatrick Trades?

Dolph N.Fan

Dolph N.Fan

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Who really won these recent NFL trades? Barnwell reevaluates 18, from OBJ to Mack

Let's take a step back and evaluate the biggest player and pick swaps from the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
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Ryan Tannehill to Titans​

The date: March 15, 2019

Titans got: QB Ryan Tannehill, 2019 sixth-round pick
Dolphins got: 2019 seventh-round pick, 2020 fourth-round pick

Titans draft pick became: LB David Long
Dolphins draft picks became: FB Chandler Cox and part of the haul sent to Pittsburgh in the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade

At the time: This amounted to the Dolphins using a restructured Tannehill deal to buy a draft pick. Instead of cutting Tannehill, they restructured his deal to a $7 million base salary and then paid $5 million of that contract as part of the trade, allowing the Titans to acquire him on a one-year pact for $2 million. That $5 million essentially netted the Dolphins a fourth-round pick. I saw this as a wash, adding, "There might even be a bit of a quarterback controversy if Mariota gets hurt and Tannehill plays well in the starter's absence."

What happened: Well, Mariota didn't get hurt, and there was no controversy, but that was because Tannehill looked utterly transformed once the Titans gave him a shot as the starter. I wrote at the time that Tannehill's comfort with play-action might make him a good fit for Arthur Smith's scheme, but I didn't suspect that the former college wideout would turn into one of the league's most efficient quarterbacks in his new gig.

Tannehill was one of the biggest bargains in football during the 2019 season and earned a long-term deal as Tennessee's starter. The Dolphins used their seventh-round pick on a fullback and then sent the fourth-rounder they paid so much to acquire to the Steelers alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick in another deal they would later regret. It's clear that nobody saw this coming -- it took the Dolphins eating $5 million to get this deal done -- but the Tannehill trade has been the best move of the Jon Robinson era.

In hindsight: Huge win for Titans
 
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Laremy Tunsil to Texans​

The date: Aug. 31, 2019

Texans got: LT Laremy Tunsil, WR Kenny Stills, 2020 fourth-round pick, 2021 sixth-round pick
Dolphins got: DB Johnson Bademosi, T Julie'n Davenport, 2020 first-round pick, 2021 first-round pick, 2021 second-round pick

Texans fans might want to scroll down a bit here.

Texans draft picks became: OL Charlie Heck (at the cost of two seventh-rounders), CB John Reid, QB Ryan Finley, the capital used to trade up in the fifth round for LB Garret Wallow

Dolphins draft picks became: CB Noah Igbinoghene, the capital used to move up for OL Solomon Kindley, WR Jaylen Waddle, S Jevon Holland, 2022 third-round pick, 2023 first-round pick

At the time: The Dolphins were here just to get as many valuable draft picks as possible. While acknowledging that Tunsil was a good left tackle, though, just about everybody thought this was an extravagant price for the Texans to pay. While talking about this deal alongside the Jadeveon Clowney swap, I noted how in sending away years of valuable draft picks, Bill O'Brien and the GM-by-committee running the Texans mortgaged the future for a quick fix. If that quick fix produced a Super Bowl, nobody would have questioned O'Brien's choices.

Laremy Tunsil has made the Pro Bowl in both of his seasons in Houston.

What happened: The Texans won a 2019 wild-card game over the Bills in overtime, went up 24-0 against the Chiefs in the divisional round, and then melted down. Houston lost 51-31, and after the DeAndre Hopkins trade and an 0-4 start the following year, O'Brien was relieved of his duties. Tunsil negotiated one of the most player-friendly contracts in the league, resetting the left tackle market with a three-year, $66 million extension. He led the league in penalties in 2019 but has generally been a very good left tackle with the Texans.

The Dolphins traded down with each of their first-round picks from the Tunsil trade. The first one went to the Packers for Jordan Love, with Miami drafting Igbinoghene at No. 30 in 2020. After the Texans went 4-12, though, the future first-rounder the Dolphins netted fell as the No. 3 overall selection. Miami dealt that pick to the 49ers for three first-round picks, then used a 2022 first-rounder to move back up from No. 12 to No. 6 and come away with a much-needed wide receiver in Waddle. Waddle and Holland haven't played an NFL game, and two of the picks are still to come, but the Tunsil trade could represent a franchise-altering haul for the Dolphins. It hasn't gone quite as well for the Texans.

In hindsight: Huge win for Dolphins
 
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Minkah Fitzpatrick to Steelers​

The date: Sept. 16, 2019

Steelers got: S Minkah Fitzpatrick, 2020 fourth-round pick, 2021 seventh-round pick
Dolphins got: 2020 first-round pick, 2020 fifth-round pick, 2021 sixth-round pick

Steelers draft picks became: OL Kevin Dotson, CB Tre Norwood
Dolphins draft picks became: T Austin Jackson, DL Jason Strowbridge, RB DeAndre Washington (as part of a pick swap)

At the time: This was a surprising one. Fitzpatrick started his 2020 season as a member of the Dolphins, where he was torched in the slot by Ravens speedster Marquise Brown before being benched. Two weeks later, with Steelers free safety Sean Davis done for the year, Pittsburgh sent a first-round pick to Miami to get Fitzpatrick. I didn't like this deal, especially since we knew Ben Roethlisberger was undergoing surgery. In what was likely to be a lost season for the Steelers, I thought Pittsburgh should have kept its first-round pick in case it was needed to replace Roethlisberger.


What happened: I was wrong. Fitzpatrick was transitioned out of the slot role he played with the Dolphins into a full-time free safety for the Steelers and made an immediate impact. By the end of the year, he had picked off five passes on the way to being named a first-team All-Pro. The Steelers still don't have a succession plan for the post-Roethlisberger era, but Fitzpatrick is a building block on one of the league's most talented defenses.

The Dolphins were tanking, but trading Fitzpatrick wasn't the same as trading Laremy Tunsil. Tunsil had run through three cost-controlled seasons and was already eligible for an extension. Fitzpatrick was entering his second cost-controlled year and still had two years left before the Dolphins even had to worry about considering a new deal. He would fit right in as the free safety on a team dedicated to building through its secondary. Jackson was raw as a rookie and still has plenty of time to develop at left tackle, but it would take a lot for him to catch up to Fitzpatrick, even with the extra year of cost control.


In hindsight: Win for Steelers
 
Oh no. The people who insist that we needed to trade Mikah because he was wanting to leave will not like this. Lol. Should have kept him and made play or retire. He woulda played. Also I am. Going to say it. Flo shoulda had him playing more free safety and not McCain
That caused all of this. But this regime can do no wrong for some here. I like this regime too but they make mistakes like everybody. Only way we win trade now if Jackson improves and takes care of left tackle. Which could still happen. But right now. Steelers got better end of it.
 
andyahs said:
Tannehill: it was time for both sides to move on

Tunsil: best trade team has made in many years.

Minkah: Mama's baby didn't want to be here. Best thing was to move him.
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Yes let’s just cave to all player requests. Mikah wanted to leave and we said yes.
suprised we didn’t ask him what team he preferred too.
 
bane said:
Yes let’s just cave to all player requests. Mikah wanted to leave and we said yes.
suprised we didn’t ask him what team he preferred too.
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And you're answer was do what with him. Make him play?

Sigh
 
We got what we got and did with them what we did with them. I think winning a victory can't be dolled out for a few more years until we see what became of the players and the draft pick selections.
 
bane said:
Oh no. The people who insist that we needed to trade Mikah because he was wanting to leave will not like this. Lol. Should have kept him and made play or retire. He woulda played. Also I am. Going to say it. Flo shoulda had him playing more free safety and not McCain
That caused all of this. But this regime can do no wrong for some here. I like this regime too but they make mistakes like everybody. Only way we win trade now if Jackson improves and takes care of left tackle. Which could still happen. But right now. Steelers got better end of it.
Click to expand...
100%. The McCain at S was stupid.

As for Tannehill - he’s now one of the best QBs in the league. 2019 he had like a 10 YPA and pro bowl year / AFC title game and last year he had 40 TDs (33 passing, 7 rushing) to 6 INTs. WTF??? Guys a bonafide stud now. He could barley throw 2 TDs a game here. He got sacked a ton (not anymore). He didn’t run for 7 TDs in a season. I think Philbert and Gase shoulder ALL of the blame. Guy obviously could play. He just couldn’t play here w lousy 79-92 QBRs. In Tenn he’s 107-119. That doesn’t just “happen” because he had an epiphany.
 
bane said:
Oh no. The people who insist that we needed to trade Mikah because he was wanting to leave will not like this. Lol. Should have kept him and made play or retire. He woulda played. Also I am. Going to say it. Flo shoulda had him playing more free safety and not McCain
That caused all of this. But this regime can do no wrong for some here. I like this regime too but they make mistakes like everybody. Only way we win trade now if Jackson improves and takes care of left tackle. Which could still happen. But right now. Steelers got better end of it.
Click to expand...
Totally agree about him at FS. I think this was a case of coach ego vs player ego, and the coach couldn't afford to back down.
 
In terms of player performance, both Tannehill and Fitzpatrick have played much better with their new teams, than when they were with Miami. To me that makes both Pittsburgh and Tennessee the winners in those trades. But if the players Miami selected with the picks from Tennessee and Pittsburgh start to play at pro bowl levels, I think an argument can be made both trades are washouts.

To me while Grier has done a masterful job of capitalizing the Tunsil trade, its too soon to say Miami won the trade based on player performance. Tunsil has done well in Houston making the pro bowl. While the players Miami has selected are still developing.

Where Miami does win, in regards to the trade with Houston, is in the draft capital acquired. Grier may not be done yet? But as of now he's won on the ability to turn those assets into additional assets moving forward. If Miami hits on any of these picks, they'd be the clear cut winners. But the players need to perform, to make that judgment.
 
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