NFL’s Resident Journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick Can Stop The Washington Football Team’s QB Carousel

It was a joke seeped in truth.

“Every week is a ‘revenge game’ for me because I’ve played on every dang team in the NFL,” Washington Football Team quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said last week.

Fitzpatrick has been a member of eight NFL teams in his career and is presumed to be the starter for his ninth in Washington after signing a one-year deal worth $10 million that could grow to $12 million with incentives.

Since Fitzpatrick entered the league 16 years ago, Washington has fielded 17 different starting quarterbacks. Both Fitzpatrick and the Football Team are therefore no strangers to change.

For some in the NFL, change is considered a weakness and something to avoid. Look no further than Tom Brady’s reign in New England, Peyton Manning’s time with the Colts or the many others who have played for only one team in their NFL careers, like Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning. Consistency often results in wins, and neither Fitzpatrick nor the Football Team has a winning history. Fitzpatrick has yet to play in a playoff game. Washington has not won a division title since 2005, the year Fitzpatrick made his NFL debut.

Yet, both chose each other this offseason. Fitzpatrick was in high demand due to the unprecedented amount of quarterback movement and his strong performance last year in Miami. Meanwhile, the Football Team was in a position to be a big spender in free agency with the sixth-best salary cap situation in the league at the start of last week. Neither party needed each other. Instead, they wanted each other. Both Fitzpatrick and the Football Team share one major trait in common: urgency. Instead of investing in a budding star, Washington elected for experience as it tries to win now, not later. Fitzpatrick meanwhile, at 38 years old, only has so much time left.

So while it may seem strange to pair NFL’s resident journeyman quarterback with a team known for its quarterback carousel, it’s actually quite fitting. Together, Fitzpatrick and the Football Team will embrace yet another change in the hopes that it leads to transformation.

Fitzpatrick said that he has come to see his unconventional experience in the NFL as a strength. He is the only quarterback in NFL history to start and throw touchdowns with eight different teams. Fitzpatrick’s longest tenure with any one team was with the Buffalo Bills from 2009-12, during which he threw 80 touchdowns and 64 interceptions. Yet despite all of the moving around, he is ranked 10th among active quarterbacks with 34,977 passing yards and has thrown for 223 touchdowns with 169 interceptions in his career.

“My experience has been a lot different from a lot of other guys that have played as long as I have in the league,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve just been in so many different systems. I’ve thrown to so many different receivers. But I’ve learned a lot about myself over the years.”

Fitzpatrick has come to see himself as synonymous with change itself and has embraced that aspect of his personality in order to advance his career. According to NFL Stats, with $71.5M in career earnings and 146 career starts, Fitzpatrick has made $489.7K per start. Of active quarterbacks, Fitzpatrick is 17th in total career earnings with $71,541,098, per Spotrac. Fourteen of the 16 QB’s ahead of him have played for two teams or less.

When asked about the challenges of transitioning from team to team, he responded, “It’s me. That’s part of my story. Part of my story is skipping around to different teams and just trying to instill belief and try to show that I’m passionate to these guys.”

That passion is important to Ron Rivera, who has preached a culture shift since arriving in Washington last offseason. Because Fitzpatrick has played for eight teams, he has experience in earning respect and proving himself. He understands the ways in which a strong culture results in wins.

“I think [reaching the playoffs] would be awesome,” Fitzpatrick said. “There are other things that are extremely important for me in terms of team building and making sure this thing continues to head in the right direction. It’s a byproduct of some of those other goals that I have that I think would definitely lead to the playoffs.”

Last season in Miami, Fitzpatrick played an important role in leading the Dolphins, a rebuilding franchise that finished 5-11 in 2019, to a 10-6 record. He started seven games, completing 68.5% of his passes, throwing for 13 touchdowns, eight interceptions and recording a 76.9 QBR.

“I’m playing better right now than I’ve ever played in my career,” Fitzpatrick said. “I just feel like I’ve got a lot of great football ahead of me, which sounds crazy being 38 years old and figuring some things out about myself.”

Perhaps it is that willingness to learn and try new things that has allowed Fitzpatrick to play for so long. It takes confidence to start over again and again and Fitzpatrick tries to inspire that feeling in his teammates.

“I’m able to instill confidence in guys because I give them opportunities,” Fitzpatrick said. “In Miami, it was getting some guys that maybe didn’t believe in themselves before to believe in themselves and know that they’re good players,” Fitzpatrick said. “Those are the things that I love as a quarterback being able to do.”

Fitzpatrick will be Washington’s 32nd starting quarterback since it won the Super Bowl after the 1991 season. The Football Team fielded four different starters last year alone in the regular season and playoffs. Together, Fitzpatrick and Washington will aim to put together its first wining season since 2016 by striving towards something that has long eluded them both:

Consistency.

“Just kind of playing with that absence of fear, I think, goes a long way,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s one of the reasons I still play, too, because I love doing it. I love giving guys chances.”