It’s Déjà vu All Over Again for the 2025 Dolphins

The expression made famous by the late, and legendary, New York Yankee Yogi Berra. Very appropriate for this week in Miami Dolphins news.

Normally, June is a pretty dull time for football fans. OTAs are usually done by mid-June, mini-camps aren’t happening for a while, and the NFL network just schedules reruns of old games.

Sometimes, though, a blockbuster move or piece of news will hit the NFL world and give the media something to talk about. This week, it was the Dolphins. They finally gave Jalen Ramsey what he has been seeking: a trade. Everyone has been wondering if the Dolphins could unload him, and more importantly, what they could get for him.

So, Chris Grier pulled off what many consider to be an excellent trade. A rare player-for-player trade of Ramsey (and Jonnu Smith) to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their All-Pro Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. What? Fitzpatrick was drafted by the Dolphins in 2018. It’s all coming full circle for him.

Fans may recall that Minkah was the 11^th overall pick in the 2018 draft. It was a great selection. Mel Kiper referred to him as “a perfect player.” In his second year, he was frustrated with then-Head Coach Brian Flores. That, combined with the head office purging quality players in the supposed “tank for Tua”, led Fitzpatrick to hit social media saying he wanted off the team. In fact, his mother was also doing that. Grier traded him to the Steelers for a first-round pick, which he used to select Austin Jackson.

So here we are with Fitzpatrick wearing aqua again. At this point, no one knows exactly how he feels about the trade. Most analysts are calling it a good/even swap for each team. Some are saying Miami did a little better, mostly due to the ages of the players. Regardless, safety was a big hole for the Dolphins, and this was a move that absolutely improved the defense.

While Jonnu Smith did have a great year with the team, much of that was due to Hill and Waddle being either double-teamed or just not open. Much of Smith’s yards came as third read check downs, or just being wide open when the receivers were not. While Smith has great hands, Coach McDaniel and Grier may believe that he can be replaced. They are certainly shopping the market for free-agent tight ends.

The Dolphins still have a need at cornerback, but safety took a step forward this week.