Analysis: Why the Steelers might have been so willing to trade away Minkah Fitzpatrick

It would be difficult to make a more eye-opening first impression with a franchise than Minkah Fitzpatrick did in September 2019 with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And yet after the resume Fitzpatrick built up from that point on over the next five-plus years, it arguably is even more difficult to exit the franchise with as little fanfare as he did Monday.

Fitzpatrick — a three-time first-team AP NFL All-Pro, just 28 years old and a member of five of the past six Pro Bowl rosters — wasn’t the marquee name in Monday’s Steelers-Miami Dolphins trade.

Tellingly, he was closer to being an afterthought. A veritable throw-in.

Three-time All Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey made the world aware of the trade of himself via a post to his X account at 10:35 a.m. Monday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter followed up with a post a minute later.

For the next 17 minutes, Steelers fans and the NFL community were abuzz that such a prominent player was headed to the Steelers. It wasn’t until 10:52 a.m. that Schefter broke what the Steelers were sending back as compensation.

Fitzpatrick.

The Steelers also got a Pro Bowl tight end in Jonnu Smith, and the teams swapped late-round picks. But that Fitzpatrick was being shipped out of town so unceremoniously would have been unthinkable not that long ago.

Related

• First Call: Jalen Ramsey hints at Steelers jersey number; Cam Heyward 'shook' by trade; Rod Woodson on Ramsey at safety
• Steelers 2025 A to Z: A look at the 90-man roster
• Tim Benz: Details of Steelers-Dolphins trade are easier to figure out than the big picture

Remember, this was the Fitzpatrick who burst onto the scene with eight takeaways (five interceptions, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery) in his first nine games with the Steelers.

The same Fitzpatrick of whom the Steelers thought so highly that they traded a first-round pick for him, the first time in 53 years they’d done so for a player.

The same Fitzpatrick whom they’d made the highest-paid safety in NFL history just three years ago. The same Fitzpatrick who led the league in interceptions as recently as 2022.

The same Fitzpatrick who has played more games and more snaps for the Steelers since his arrival than any other player still on the roster.

So how did we get here? How did Fitzpatrick fall so far down in management’s eyes that he went from long-term foundational piece to shipped off in a late-June trade?

Neither general manager Omar Khan, coach Mike Tomlin nor anyone else representing the Steelers has spoken on the record about the trade. It’s not known whether it was the Dolphins — Fitzpatrick’s original team as a No. 11 overall pick in 2018 — who aggressively pursued him, forcing the Steelers to reluctantly relent. Or, conversely, whether the Steelers made Miami taking Fitzpatrick a condition for agreeing to the deal.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Still, Fitzpatrick was considered a possible future Hall of Famer. He was so indispensable that he was on the field for more than 99% of the Steelers’ defensive snaps for games in five of his six seasons with the team.

What, at least in part, compelled this breakup? In a word, “splash.”

Fitzpatrick was a splash machine early on for the Steelers. His first game, a loss in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2019, featured an interception, a fumble recovery and a QB hit. Through his first 60 games with the Steelers, Fitzpatrick had 17 interceptions, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three touchdowns on returns.

In his 28 games since, Fitzpatrick had one interception, one forced fumble, no fumble recoveries and no touchdown returns.

The Steelers weren’t paying him $74 million over four years for that kind of ball production.

Whereas Fitzpatrick was a threat on the blitz over that dynamic first 60 games with the Steelers (he had eight pressures, according to Pro Football Focus), over the final 28 games, Fitzpatrick had just one pressure.

Using PFF subjective data suggests a decline over his Steelers tenure. Fitzpatrick in 2024 had his worst overall grade, worst run defense grade, worst pass-rush grade and second-worst coverage grade of any season he spent in Pittsburgh.

The coverage problems perhaps stood out most. Take the accuracy of PFF’s analysis for what it’s worth, but after being charged with allowing only three touchdowns while in coverage over his first five seasons with the Steelers, Fitzpatrick allowed five this past season alone.

Only five NFL safeties among the 64 who played the most coverage snaps last season had a higher passer rating when targeted than Fitzpatrick’s 132.4. In no previous season for the Steelers was his passer rating against higher than 86.6.

Then, there were the communication issues that plagued the Steelers defense so much late last season. With coverage gaffes in the secondary a regular occurrence during a five-game losing streak (including playoffs) that ended the season, frustration was palpable among Steelers defensive players.

During a Christmas Day loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Fitzpatrick was out of position for the first score: a 7-yard touchdown reception by Xavier Worthy. After the game, cryptic comments came from multiple players.

“Ten guys do the job and one guy doesn’t, we’re screwed,” captain Cameron Heyward said.

Added outspoken safety DeShon Elliott: “Guys can’t be (bleeping) wide open. … Guys just weren’t doing their job.”

No one named Fitzpatrick. Perhaps he wasn’t the sole target — or a target at all — of their angst.

Six months later, though, Fitzpatrick’s once-transcendent Steelers career is over. And it came as an afterthought.