How Long Has Ryan Fitzpatrick Been In The NFL?

How long has Ryan Fitzpatrick been in the NFL? The answer may surprise you. The veteran quarterback has been in the league for 16 seasons.

NFL Career

Ryan Fitzpatrick was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He has played for the Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins. He is currently a free agent. In his NFL career, he has completed 3,824 of 6,362 passes for 45,050 yards, 270 touchdowns, and 173 interceptions.

Drafted by the Rams in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft

Fitzpatrick was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round (250th pick overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft. Fitzpatrick played college football at Harvard, where he was a record-setting quarterback.

Spent two seasons with the Rams

Fitzpatrick was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons as a backup to Marc Bulger, and did not see any regular season playing time until 2007. He played in eight games that season, starting three, and completed 54 of 96 passes for 581 yards, three touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

Traded to the Bengals in 2007

In 2007, he was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals for a seventh-round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Fitzpatrick started nine games for the Bengals in 2007, completing 154 of 258 passes for 1,905 yards and seven touchdowns with nine interceptions. His passer rating was 75.8. The Bengals finished the season at 7–9. In 2007, Fitzpatrick had his best statistical year as a pro, completing 60% of his passes for 2 TDs and 9 INTs

Spent four seasons with the Bengals

After going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft, Fitzpatrick was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent four seasons with the Bengals, mostly as a backup quarterback behind Jon Kitna and Carson Palmer. In 2006, he took over for an injured Palmer and started three games, winning one and losing two. He also started two games in 2007 after Kitna was benched.

Signed with the Bills in 2011

Fitzpatrick signed a six-year, $59 million contract extension with the Bills on October 28, 2011. The deal included $24 million in guaranteed money. He was due to make $3.22 million for the 2012 season, and his base salaries for the 2013-2017 seasons were $4.25 million (2013), $7.75 million (2014), $8 million (2015), and $8 million (2016). 2017 was to be a team option year at $12 million. On March 11, 2014, Fitzpatrick agreed to restructure his contract, saving the Bills over $3.25 million in salary cap space for 2014. As part of the restructured deal, Fitzpatrick received an upfront signing bonus of $500,000 and had his base salaries for 2014 and 2015 converted into fully guaranteed base salaries at their original amounts. He was also given a no-trade clause that allowed him to block trades to four teams of his choosing each year during the life of the contract

Spent three seasons with the Bills

Ryan Fitzpatrick, who turns 35 in November, has been in the NFL for 13 seasons – he’s currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft out of Harvard. He played three seasons with the Bills before being traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, where he spent four seasons. Fitzpatrick then played for the Buffalo Bills for two more seasons (2012-2013), the Tennessee Titans for one season (2014), the Houston Texans for one season (2014), and then back with the Jets from 2015-2016. He was released by the Jets after the 2016 season and spent 2017 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Signed with the Jets in 2015

Fitzpatrick signed a one-year, $12 million contract with the New York Jets on March 11, 2015. Fitzpatrick became the Jets’ starting quarterback after Geno Smith was injured during a training camp fight with then teammate IK Enemkpali. Fitzpatrick had his best statistical season as a professional, setting new career highs in passing yards (3,905), touchdowns (31), and quarterback rating (88.0). He was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September after leading the Jets to a 3–1 record and throwing for 930 yards, 7 touchdowns, and just 2 interceptions. He finished the season with a record of 10–6 as the Jets’ starter and helped lead them to their first playoff appearance since 2010.

Spent three seasons with the Jets

Fitzpatrick was drafted by the Jets in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He became the Jets’ starting quarterback in 2008 and remained their starter through the 2010 season. He then spent time with the Buffalo Bills (2011–2012), Tennessee Titans (2013), Houston Texans (2014), New York Jets (2015) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2016–present).

Signed with the Dolphins in 2018

The Miami Dolphins signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick on a two-year, $11 million deal in March of 2018. Fitzpatrick had spent the previous season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he started 11 games and threw for over 4,000 yards. The journeyman quarterback has also had stints with the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Houston Texans. In total, Fitzpatrick has played in 152 NFL games (121 starts) and thrown for over 26,000 yards and 171 touchdowns.

Fitzpatrick’s NFL Stats

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Harvard graduate and current NFL Quarterback, has had an interesting career. First drafted in 2005, Fitzpatrick has played for 7 NFL teams, most recently the Miami Dolphins.

105 touchdown passes

In his NFL career, Ryan Fitzpatrick has thrown for 105 touchdown passes.

41 interceptions

Ryan Patrick Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982), nicknamed “Fitzmagic”, is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Harvard and was picked by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2005 NFL Draft. With the Rams in 2007, Fitzpatrick appeared in 10 games and started three, winning one. In 2008, he became a member of the Buffalo Bills practice squad before being promoted to the active roster. He made his first career start in place of an injured Trent Edwards against Arizona Cardinals and turned in a strong performance, throwing for 208 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions in a 20–16 Bills victory.

Fitzpatrick began the 2009 season as Edwards’ backup, but took over as starter after Edwards suffered concussion-like symptoms following a Week 1 loss to New England Patriots. Fitzpatrick led Buffalo to four consecutive wins, but then lost six straight games as starter. During that losing streak he threw for more than 300 yards three times and had a career-high 374 yards passing against Jacksonville Jaguars on November 15. Fitzpatrick continued to play after Edwards returned from his injuries late in the season but was benched for the final game in favor of Brian Brohm.

In 2010, Fitzpatrick started all 16 games for Buffalo and set career-highs in passing yards (3,272), touchdowns (24), interceptions (23), completion percentage (62%), and passer rating (81.8). His 3,400 total passing yards were second most behind only Drew Brees’ 5,476 among all NFL quarterbacks that year. Fitzpatrick’s 24 touchdown passes tied him with Peyton Manning for sixth most among all quarterbacks that season; only Tom Brady (36), Brees (34), Michael Vick (32), Manning (31) and Aaron Rodgers (30) had more touchdown passes than Fitzpatrick did during the 2010 NFL season.

23,671 passing yards

In 14 NFL seasons, Ryan Fitzpatrick has amassed 23,671 passing yards, which ranks him 35th in NFL history. He’s also thrown for 157 touchdowns and 136 interceptions in his career.