The Steelers have reached agreement on an extension with All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). The fifth-year defender signed a four-year contract which will pay him more than $18.4MM per year. The Steelers have announced the signing.
Schefter adds that the pact includes $36MM in guaranteed money. The deal comes as the 25-year-old was soon to begin a contract year in 2022. He was already on the books for one more season at $10.6MM, by virtue of his fifth-year option being picked up. Now, he is set be with the Steelers for the long-term.
Fitzpatrick quickly lived up to his draft stock as the No. 11 overall pick in 2018 with the Dolphins. His time in Miami was very short-lived, however, as he was dealt to Pittsburgh midway through the 2019 campaign. The Steelers paid a significant price to acquire him, sending a package which included a first-rounder, but Fitzpatrick has been worth it up to this point. Starting in all 46 contests he has appeared in with Pittsburgh, he has registered 203 tackles and 11 interceptions.
His level of play has earned him a pair of Pro Bowl nods and two appearances on the First-Team All-Pro list. As a result, the matter of an extension had long been seen as one of the top priorities for the Steelers’ front office, now led by Omar Khan. The possibility was raised of the Alabama alum conducting a ‘hold-in’ during mandatory minicamp to try and leverage a new deal, but that will no longer be necessary.
The value of this contract will make Fitzpatrick the league’s all-time highest-paid safety. Jamal Adams had held the top spot at $17.5MM-per-season, but this deal is the new watermark in a positional market which could continue to be on the rise with subsequent deals. Extensions for the likes of Derwin James and Jessie Bates will no doubt be influenced by this one.
“Minkah is one of the top safeties in the NFL and we are thrilled he will be in Pittsburgh through at least the next five years” Khan said, via the team’s website. “When we traded for him, we knew he was going to be an integral part of our defense and we look forward to that continuing as we prepare for the upcoming season.”
With fellow defensive pillar T.J. Watt under contract for the long-term already, the Steelers have another foundational player signed through the transition into the post-Ben Roethlisberger era. While questions remain on the offensive side of the ball heading into this season, the team’s pass defense will have one of its most important elements in place for the foreseeable future.
Good. His numbers took a hit last year because he was spending so much time filling the huge gaps in the porous front 7. He’s worth it.
Agreed. Not sure they’ve addressed their D-line problems to the point where he won’t be playing “monster back” again, but there’s still time
I think Jack will help a lot in run stopping too
I’m glad they got a deal done.. won’t need QB money for like 4 years
Unless Pickett is a bust. What do you do if Trubisky starts and has a very good year?
pick up his cheap option for next year
Option may be under 8 million but with Pickett making 1st round money that’s at least 20 for the 2 quarterbacks. Not exactly a lot of money but still decent. Pickett would be a high price backup. I don’t think it’ll happen because I think trubisky will struggle
picketts gonna be making like 3 mil ..
ideally he doesn’t see the field this year
You may be right but seriously, neither can be worse than Roethlisberger the past two seasons OR the prospect of a Mason Rudolph or Duck Hodges at QB
The O-line is the key. Did they do enough. Yeah, it can’t be worse, either but like the D-line, you wonder if they should be doing more
couldn’t agree more
I’ve said before that there’s reason to believe in each o-liners development , however none are a sure thing.
bare minimum we need to run block , and I blame that on a combination of Trai Turner and Kenyon Green , both of which have been replaced in theory.
as far as pass blocking which started off as bad as any line has ever been , they weren’t terrible towards the end of the year and “got the job done”
(in the most minimal sense of the phrase).
..so if they can “get the job done” with mobile QBs like Trub & Kenny P , then that could be “good enough”
—
… as far D-line , I’m convinced they have to bring in a vet ,
HOWEVER we’ve seen literal randoms like Bret Keisel, Aaron Smith & Kimo Von Olehofen make QUITE the names for themselves just getting gritty and dirty up front in the steelers system.
and while I do not believe Chris Wormley is the answer , doesn’t mean they don’t have another such random in the works
(maybe Isaiah Loudermilk etc)
specifically 3-4 DEs aren’t hard to replace because the system pretty much just calls for you to get in people’s way and free up the LBs ..
…if you can get a swim move added on after that, like a Cam Heyward, then that’s just a luxury, not an essential function of the system or blitz pattern
Yes sir
He’s a very good player, no doubt. However, that’s just stupid money. Guess it makes sense given the Steelers are built to be a Run heavy, lean on their D kinda team. Insane money tho.
It’s an overpay, but at this point, if you want to lock up premium players at a given position, you almost have to slightly reset the market (or at least come close).
As you said, Pittsburgh is pretty reliant on having a lockdown defense at this point, so it would be tough to just let him go. Furthermore, they won’t have to shell out big money at the QB position for quite a while, so it’s sensible in that respect
exactly we see teams without veteran QBs do this all the time
same reason I’d never bat an eye at TJ Watts contract .
Don’t have Ben making 35mil anymore
By end of next year he will be top 5-10 paid
Pricy, but I’m glad the deal is done. We need him.
Yes!!!!
Done deal and well deserved. He does everything he is asked to do for that defense and last year that was alot. Numbers don’t always show how much a player truly means to a defense. Great move by the Steelers in my eyes.
The deal to acquire him was not a significant prices.
Steelers acquired
Fitzpatrick
4th round pick used on OL Dotson
7th round pick
Dolphins acquired
1st round pick used on OT Austin Jackson
5th round pick used on DL Jason Strowbridge
6th round pick
Hardly a significant price.
Well it was a 1st round pick. Just because the receiving team doesn’t make a hit with the pick doesn’t mean it wasn’t a significant price. It wasn’t an overpay because he made a huge impact for Pittsburgh that season. The Steelers had to sign him because of the pick they gave up.
Looking at what it takes to acquire first round talent the Steelers made out by only giving up a 1st and swapping later round picks
A first for a safety is about right. I don’t think the Steelers made out.
at the time it was looked at as the steelers were going to draft a safety with the pick anyways ,
so just traded it for one to arrive early with one less year of control.
steelers almost made playoffs that year despite using Duck Hodges & Rudolph most of the year
I agree that Colbert would’ve done better with those picks than the Miami Dolphins .. kinda looks like he might end up doing better with just a 4th than Ross Co. did with 3 picks including a 1st
not to mention, it looks like Kevin Dotson might end up being the best draft pick in the entire trade
Dolphins already paying up big to replace Jackson this off-season.
Makes me sick that Miami got rid of him.
Miami had no choice bc he wanted out and requested a trade they had no choice in the matter.