S Minkah Fitzpatrick To Benefit From Positional Consistency

In today’s headline-grabbing trade, the Dolphins gave up a lot to bring back safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a late-round pick swap in next year’s draft. While Miami is welcoming back a three-time first-team All-Pro defender who has qualified for five Pro Bowls, including the last three, Fitzpatrick isn’t viewed quite as highly as he has been in the past. He sought a trade from the team that drafted him because of issues with his role on the defense, but now, he should benefit from a return to his first team because of the role that they need him to fill.

As ESPN’s Brooke Pryor points out, part of the reason Fitzpatrick became an expendable piece of the Steelers defense is because his production in the past two seasons did not quite justify his $22MM cap hit in 2025. His 2023 struggles seemed to be the result of injuries and an expectation for Fitzpatrick to play a bit out of position. The 2023 campaign saw a significant increase of his snaps in the box for the first time in his career, and as a result, he failed to contribute any game-changing moments, as he was not in his usual position to do so.

This same type of issue is what led to Fitzpatrick’s departure from Miami in first place. After a rookie year in which he was utilized mostly as a strong safety, then-defensive coordinator Patrick Graham attempted to experiment with Fitzpatrick across different roles in the secondary, opting to play him in a nickelback role while starting Bobby McCain and Reshad Jones at safety. After getting torched by Lamar Jackson in the season opener of his sophomore campaign, 59-10, the Dolphins gave Fitzpatrick permission to seek a trade when he expressed dissatisfaction with his positional role.

Immediately upon his arrival in Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick found a nearly full-time home at the safety position and rewarded the Steelers with his first All-Pro season. Over his first four years in Pittsburgh, Fitzpatrick reeled in 17 interceptions (three for touchdowns) and logged 38 passes defensed, earning two more All-Pro honors in the process.

In 2023, though, the team brought in Damontae Kazee and shifted Fitzpatrick’s role. All of the sudden, Fitzpatrick was playing a quarter of his defensive snaps in the box and another quarter in the slot. The addition of DeShon Elliott helped in 2024, getting him back into a true high safety role for the majority of the time, but the team still gave him a significant snap share in the box that year, as well. Over that span, Fitzpatrick’s plays on the ball decreased drastically, only amounting to one interception and seven passes defensed in two years.

Now, he heads back to South Beach, and in Miami, they need a safety. Now far-removed from the days of positional dispute, the Dolphins are in a place where they are trying to recover from the departures of both starting safeties from the 2024 season, Jevon Holland and Jordan Poyer. Before acquiring Fitzpatrick, Ashtyn Davis and Ifeatu Melifonwu were expected to fill out the starting defense. Both players have extremely limited experience in starting safety roles, so Fitzpatrick is certain to come in as the team’s new best safety.

Now, Fitzpatrick returns to Miami to claim his rightful spot in the secondary. He’s older (28) and has a bit more of an injury history, but a return to a full-time safety role should do him good. The Dolphins were confident enough in that outcome that they traded away two impact players to bring him in, though one player notably did not want to be in Miami.