The Pittsburgh Steelers made a shocking move late Monday night to acquire defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins. The move came as a huge surprise to those who know how the Steelers operate.
The Steelers had a very wild Monday for an NFL team to have. They found out Monday morning that Ben Roethlisberger required season-ending surgery on his throwing elbow and by Monday night, they had traded their first-round pick in the 2020 draft for Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The trade comes as a shock for many that thought they knew how the Steelers like to operate. In the span of six months, the Steelers have had a big splash type of free agency, moved up 10 spots in the draft for Devin Bush and now have traded away their first-round pick in a draft for the first time since 1967.
The Steelers have made it clear they are going out of their comfort zone to try to make this team better. The aggressiveness in the Steelers front office is a welcome change for the fans from the normal operation and is something many fans have hoped the team would do with an aging Ben Roethlisberger.
While the timing is odd, we won’t really know if the deal is good or bad until we see how the season shakes out. We can take a look at the immediate pros and cons of such an impactful trade on the day the team lost its franchise quarterback for the rest of the 2019 season.
The pros of landing Fitzpatrick
Minkah Fitzpatrick is a very versatile defender. In today’s NFL, that makes his value extremely high to a defense.
He has the ability to play either safety spot, any corner spot and even play some sub-package linebacker. That’s good news for a Steelers defense that needs help in many of those areas.
He will likely play free safety in Pittsburgh now with Sean Davis set to be sidelined for a long time with a torn shoulder labrum. This gives Fitzpatrick what he has, seemingly, wanted after reports of his frustration of moving around too much in Miami.
The Steelers gave up a lot for the second-year safety but there is plenty of financial upside to the deal as well. As reported by Albert Breer below, the Steelers will have low cap hits for Fitzpatrick for the rest of 2019 as well as 2020 and 2021. The option year being cheaper is also an enticing element to the Steelers.
Value for Steelers in Minkah Fitzpatrick?
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 17, 2019
• Pittsburgh has him for a total of $5.78 million over the next 3 years.
• B/c he was taken 11th (outside the Top 10), fifth-year option for 2022 will be relatively cheap.
• He turns 23 in November.
• He can play S and CB.
Finally, this gives the Steelers a top-level young player on a cheap deal providing them more space to sign others. This also gets rid of the first round money allocated to their cap in the offseason.
The Steelers also admitted the Davis injury played a part in the team making a move on Fitzpatrick. With free agency looming, this gives the Steelers a quality in-house replacement in 2020 at the free safety position.
The cons of landing Fitzpatrick
The biggest con of the deal was obviously losing the first-round pick next draft. First-round picks are very valuable and the Steelers lost Big Ben which could mean a higher pick than fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.
Clearly, the Steelers are making it known they aren’t giving up on the season. Many don’t expect much out of the team and think the Steelers just gave up a potential top ten pick.
While the pick could wind up being a top ten selection, that isn’t all that bad. The Steelers would likely see Sean Davis walk this offseason so they would be looking at safety early regardless and Fitzpatrick can eliminate that need.
If we want to speak in ‘what-ifs’, the Steelers could finish bad enough to be in the top ten, sure. However, they have a lot of confidence in Mason Rudolph and he will get that chance to show he is the guy.
I was not a fan of the trade when I first heard about it but it has since grown on me. The team got a young, controllable defender with first-round pedigree and is, by all accounts, a great teammate and off-field guy.
Big Ben plans to be back in 2020 and the team likely wouldn’t be bad enough to see that pick within range to draft a QB like many fans have brought up about the pick. There are many more pros than cons to the trade as it stands today and how the season shakes out will be the greatest deciding factor along with who is available at the Steelers pick when Miami is on the clock.
Final verdict, for the time being
As with draft picks, it is hard to grade trades at the moment they occur. This one is no different and will take at least until the end of 2019 to get a better gauge on how this trade worked for Pittsburgh.
The immediate impact is that Fitzpatrick will offer an upgrade to the defensive backs and provide stability while Sean Davis heals from his labrum injury. It also speaks volumes to the confidence the team has in Mason Rudolph as the starter for the 2019 season.
Rudolph is being doubted by those outside Pittsburgh and by some fans, as well. The hope is that he can come in and keep the team competitive while Fitzpatrick gives a boost to the defense.
I don’t think anyone expects a super bowl run from Rudolph after being thrust into the lineup but he has shown promise both in his progression from 2018 to 2019. He has displayed confidence in himself and gotten high praise from his teammates for his poise coming in against Seattle.
The Steelers don’t have a first-round pick in 2020 as things stand but they do have the following: a second-rounder, two fourth-rounders and a fifth, sixth and seventh-rounder in 2020. The team may also gain a 2020 third-round compensatory pick in the offseason for the departure of Le’Veon Bell, so they could wind up still having a fairly full draft.
The Steelers got themselves a player they loved in the 2018 draft and have him under team control for the rest of 2019, 2020 and 2021 with a 5th-year team option that is likely to be fairly cheap for a player with his potential. Let’s all just take a deep breath, watch the season unfold and enjoy the quality young defender the Steelers got themselves Monday night.