5th-year options due on Steelers safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds

There are plenty of decisions that need to be made by the Pittsburgh Steelers during an offseason that began after this past Sunday’s playoff loss. A couple of the easier ones involve picking up fifth-year contract options.

For the first time, the Steelers have a pair to exercise — and they’re from the same position.

Starting safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds were both chosen among the first 28 picks of the 2018 draft. As first-round picks, their contracts include fifth-year team options that must be exercised by May 3 of the year of the player’s fourth season.

That’s less than four months away for Fitzpatrick and Edmunds, each of whom has been a starter since his rookie season.

What’s different about this fifth-year option season for the Steelers is for the first time since the rookie contract structure was devised with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, the Steelers have two options to exercise. That’s because they acquired Fitzpatrick in a September 2019 trade with the Miami Dolphins. He was the No. 11 pick of the 2018 draft, and Edmunds went 17 picks later to the Steelers.

.@KGorman_Trib: Minkah Fitzpatrick is just what the doctor ordered for the #Steelers this season https://t.co/GAomL6EQ7D

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) November 11, 2019

Since Fitzpatrick’s arrival before the Week 3 game in 2019, he has played more defensive snaps for the Steelers than any other player. Edmunds has played the third most.

“I think we play really well together,” Fitzpatrick said during a video conference with media Thursday. “I think we both complement each other very well. Terrell is more down closer to the box, I am more further away from the box, controlling the post and (downfield).

“He’s a good dude off the field. I love him as a teammate, as a brother, and hopefully we can continue to play together and make that happen.”

As a reigning two-time All Pro since joining the Steelers, Fitzpatrick is a lock to have his option picked up. And Edmunds is a virtual lock, too, after a season in which he flashed some “splash” (two interceptions, plus a game-clinching sack off a blitz against Denver) after two years of steady, if unremarkable, play.

In some ways, Terrell Edmunds’ 2020 training camp was a mirror image of his first two seasons with the #Steelers. https://t.co/vunE2uqYtV

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 6, 2020

Both players would be eligible (per the Steelers’ organizational policy) for long-term contract extensions next offseason.

Part of the CBA agreed to by the league and union last year is the fifth-year options are fully guaranteed at the time of signing. That could perhaps compel teams to wait until closer to the May 3 deadline.

Also, unlike with the options for former first-rounders earmarked for the 2015-21 seasons, the formula for the salary has been tweaked. Previously tied to draft slot, performance incentives and playing time now apply. As a two-time Pro Bowl honoree, Fitzpatrick’s 2022 salary will equate to the franchise-tag allotment for safeties in 2021.

As a player who participated in more than 75% of his team’s snaps over his first three seasons, Edmunds’ 2022 salary will be the average of the third through 25th-highest salaries at safety.

In short, each will get a significant raise off their 2021 salaries (according to spotrac.com) of $1.94 million for Edmunds and $2.72 million for Fitzpatrick.

The Steelers previously picked up fifth-year options on five of their seven first-round picks since the system was put into place. Jarvis Jones (2013 draft) and Artie Burns (2016 draft) were the only options not exercised.

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