Steelers acquire All-Pro DB Jalen Ramsey, TE Jonnu Smith from Dolphins, send Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami

Jalen Ramsey joined the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, becoming the newest high-profile acquisition for the organization this offseason.

Jonnu Smith also came aboard, providing the Steelers another option on an offense that is minus its top wide receiver from last season.

The Steelers continued their roster reconstruction when they acquired both Miami Dolphins players in a blockbuster deal in which free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was shipped back to south Florida. The Steelers had acquired Fitzpatrick from the Dolphins early in the 2019 season. The trade won’t become official until all three players pass physicals.

Break my own news! ???????? #HereWeGo @steelers pic.twitter.com/vnwJLZBDpM

— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) June 30, 2025

The trade also involves a swap of late-round draft picks. The Steelers are sending the Dolphins a fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft and are getting Miami’s seventh-round selection in that draft.

Ramsey, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time All-Pro cornerback, announced his inclusion in the trade on social media Monday morning.

The 29-year-old Smith, who is coming off his best NFL season and first Pro Bowl selection, will be reunited with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Jonnu Smith previously played for Arthur Smith in Tennessee and Atlanta. The Steelers also are giving Smith, who was unhappy with his contract in Miami, a $12 million deal for the 2025 season.

Full terms of Monday’s Steelers-Dolphins blockbuster:

Steelers get:
????CB Jalen Ramsey
????TE Jonnu Smith
????2027 7th-round pick

Dolphins get:
????S Minkah Fitzpatrick
????2027 5th-round pick https://t.co/OvqRLfb2dr

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 30, 2025

Ramsey, 30, signed a three-year, $72.3 million contract extension with the Dolphins in September, and he was paid a $4 million roster bonus in March. As part of the trade, Ramsey is getting a $1.5 million raise and will make $26.6 million this season. Before the trade, he had a guaranteed salary this year of $25 million.

To offset that cost, the Steelers sent Fitzpatrick back to Miami. He became the highest-paid safety in the NFL when he signed a four-year, $73.6 million deal with the Steelers in June 2022. He has two years remaining on his contract and is scheduled to earn $15.5 million this season. He was going to count $22.355 million against the Steelers’ cap in 2025, according to overthecap.com.

The Steelers entered the day with about $19 million in salary cap space, according to the NFL Players’ Association website.

Ramsey and Smith join newcomers Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and Darius Slay on a roster that looks vastly different from the one that took the field in January in the wild-card playoff game at Baltimore.

The Steelers have just four starting players on offense back at the positions they played in that 28-14 defeat: tight end Pat Freiermuth, center Zach Frazier, left guard Isaac Seumalo and wide receiver Calvin Austin III. On defense, Fitzpatrick becomes the fourth player from that playoff loss to exit, joining Larry Ogunjobi, Elandon Roberts and Donte Jackson. A fifth, outside linebacker T.J. Watt, could be a trade candidate after missing mandatory minicamp in a contract holdout.

In the new-look secondary, the Steelers have Joey Porter Jr., who is entering his third NFL season, at one cornerback spot, and they signed Slay to a one-year, $10 million deal early in free agency. Ramsey is expected to be used by the Steelers at outside corner, slot corner and at safety, where he could be in the mix to replace Fitzpatrick.

DeShon Elliott, who signed a contract extension earlier in June, played strong safety last season, and the Steelers added former Cleveland and Kansas City safety Juan Thornhill in free agency to be the No. 3 safety. Thornhill also is in the mix to replace Fitzpatrick.

Ramsey joins his fourth NFL team since Jacksonville selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2016 draft. Traded to Los Angeles in 2019, Ramsey won a Super Bowl with the Rams after the 2021 season. He was traded to Miami in 2023 and spent the past two seasons with the Dolphins.

His 108 pass breakups rank third among all NFL players since 2016, and his 24 interceptions are fourth.

Ramsey started all 17 games for the Dolphins last season and had two interceptions and 11 pass breakups.

Ramsey was named to the Pro Bowl for four consecutive seasons from 2020-23.

Smith caught 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns last year in his first season with the Dolphins. At 6-foot-3, 248 pounds, he is undersized for a tight end, but he could help solve the Steelers’ problem at No. 2 wide receiver stemming from their trade of George Pickens to Dallas in May.

Smith could be used as an inside and outside receiver and as a blocking fullback. He joins a position group that is led by Freiermuth and includes returning players in Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward.

Arthur Smith was Jonnu Smith’s head coach with the Atlanta Falcons in 2023 and his offensive coordinator in Tennessee. Jonnu Smith also caught eight touchdown passes with the Titans in 2020 when Arthur Smith was calling the plays in his final season as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Fitzpatrick, 28, is a three-time All-Pro selection who has been voted to five Pro Bowls, but he totaled just one interception over the past two seasons. He snapped a 25-game stretch without an interception when he had one in the regular season against Baltimore.

In an interview this spring, Fitzpatrick was critical of the team’s communication last season, particularly at the end of the year when the Steelers lost their final four games of the regular season and their playoff opener at Baltimore.

“There were too many instances where one guy thought one thing and another thought another,” Fitzpatrick said. “We weren’t on the same page, and it led to a big play. That was one of the larger things.”