Ryan Fitzpatrick Announces Retirement

Ryan Fitzpatrick, aka “Fitzmagic,” has been a journeyman for the entirety of his career, most recently for the Commanders (on IR).

Fitzpatrick was a seventh-round draft pick by the then-St. Louis Rams in 2005. He was there for the first three years of his career. He appeared in just six games as a backup.

The next season, the Rams traded Fitzpatrick to Cincinnati and he got his shot as a starter. This was because Carson Palmer was dealing with an injury. He led the Bengals to a 4-7-1 record as a starter, earning all four of the team’s wins that year. He parlayed that playing experience and began his longest tenure with a single team starting the following year with Buffalo. Fitzpatrick was in Buffalo for four years, threw for 11,654 yards and 80 touchdowns while completing 59.8% of his passes. He’s currently fifth in passing yards in Bills history.

Fitzpatrick spent 2013 in Tennessee and 2014 in Houston before being traded to the New York Jets to play there for two years. 2015 was his career-best year as he started all 16 games for the Jets and led them to a 10-6 record, just missing playoffs. He threw for 3,905 yards and 31 touchdowns, both career-best marks. He couldn’t replicate that the following year, so he landed in Tampa Bay for 2017 and 2018 as Jameis Winston’s back-up.

Miami signed Fitzpatrick for the 2019 season to be their bridge quarterback. The next year, Miami re-signed him to mentor Tua Tagovailoa in 2020. His seven games started in 2020 came with a 4-3 record, his only other winning record with a team. He only appeared in one game in 2021 for the Commanders. The Chargers knocked him out of the contest with a hip subluxation injury in Week 1.

The veteran was respected around the league and had been a quality backup and emergency starter. He finished his career with 34,990 yards and 223 touchdowns.