DAVIE, Fla. – Ryan Fitzpatrick knows he's the starter for the Miami Dolphins this season. For how long, though, remains to be seen.
The veteran quarterback signed with the team Monday with the intention of leading the huddle in 2019. But Fitzpatrick is well aware of Miami's intentions to rebuild through the draft.
"We'll see what happens," Fitzgerald told reporters Tuesday. "I know that this is the NFL, which means that nothing is promised. There are things that come up and happen all of the time. I just felt like it was a great opportunity for me and again, I've pretty much been in all of the different situations you can think of or imagine."
Indeed, the journeyman is now with his eighth team since the then-St. Louis Rams selected him in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL draft.
After two seasons as the No. 2 quarterback in St. Louis, Fitzgerald was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2007 to serve as a backup to Carson Palmer.
He saw significant playing time in 2008 after an injury to Palmer, seguing that into a new contract with the Buffalo Bills.
Fitzpatrick began the 2009 season behind Trent Edwards, but he was named the starter by interim coach Perry Fewell, who took over after Dick Juaron was fired.
When Chan Gailey was hired, Fitzpatrick was once again relegated to backup, but he supplanted Edwards after Buffalo's 0-2 start and finally found himself as the undisputed starter.
After he was released by Buffalo, Fitzgerald wound up in Tennessee, where he started nine games for the Titans in 2013.
From there it was on to Houston, where Fitzgerald started the majority of the 2014 season. But the Texans traded him to the New York Jets in 2015.
Fitzgerald had his best year with the Jets in 2015, passing for 3,905 yards and 31 touchdowns, breaking Vinny Testaverde's franchise record for most touchdown passes in a season. He returned to New York in 2016, starting 11 games as the Jets juggled between Fitzgerald, Geno Smith and Bryce Petty.
His most recent stop was in Tampa Bay. Fitzgerald was the backup to Jameis Winston in 2017, but he began last season as the starter while Winston served a three-game suspension.
Fitzgerald cemented his status as the starter by becoming the first player in NFL history to have three consecutive games with at least 400 passing yards, but the "FitzMagic" eventually wore off and Winston reclaimed the job. He finished the season with 2,366 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for the Buccaneers.
That brings him to Miami, which last week traded previous starter Ryan Tannehill to the Titans.
"I had some other calls from teams," Fitzgerald told reporters. "All of them had guys that were penciled in as starters, so even though financially there were some similarities and things, I looked at it as a chance to play and that's why I got excited about it."
Fitzpatrick said he felt "energized" after last season and wanted another crack at being No. 1.
"I feel like I'm playing really good football right now," he said. "Over the last four or five years, I think I've taken the next step and hope to continue to improve as we get going."
Oh, and he has no plans to get rid of that beard.
"I've done it in Houston. I've done it in Tampa," he said. "It did start, really the beginning, was probably Buffalo because of the cold, but it's become such a part of who I am that it will definitely be in full effect."