'Good Guy' Fitzpatrick Remains a Mystery for 2021

Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was announced as the winner of the team's Good Guy Award

There's a running joke among Miami Dolphins writers about the "Curse of the Good Guy Award," and it very possibly is going to strike again.

The 2020 winner of the award, given to the player as voted on by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association, was revealed Friday and the recipient was quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

And his status with the team most definitely is up in the air, given that he's set to become an unrestricted free agent with the start of the new league year in mid-March.

Fitzpatrick has not spoken publicly since he was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on the Thursday before the regular season at Buffalo, which essentially ended his second year with the Dolphins.

Because the end of the season came so abruptly, the local media never had the chance to ask Fitzpatrick about his future plans. Nothing in his comments before he was placed on the COVID-19 list suggested he was ready to retire, though he often talked about the idea that what keeps him going is competing.

That's clearly not going to happen in Miami because the Dolphins are going to move forward with 2020 first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa — assuming they don't end up making a trade for Deshaun Watson.

There could be a lot of quarterbacks on the move this offseason, so maybe Fitzpatrick will have the opportunity to find a team that gives him a chance to compete for a starting job.

As a point of reference, it was during Super Bowl week last year that Fitzpatrick publicly said he was going to return in 2020 for a 16th NFL season.

From the Dolphins standpoint, head coach Brian Flores' comments after the regular season certainly did nothing to suggest we should expect Fitzpatrick back next season.

If indeed Fitzpatrick moves on from the Dolphins, he would become the third Good Guy Award winner in four years to be gone after being selected — following 2018 winner T.J. McDonald and 2017 winner Jermon Bushord.

The 2019 winner was linebacker Jerome Baker.