Predicting the details of Steelers next three contract extensions
By Tommy Jaggi
The Pittsburgh Steelers have three big contract extensions coming up. Here are my detailed number predictions for each new deal.
Now that we are entering the longest stretch of the football calendar year without any important dates, all eyes will be on possible contract extension talks for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The market was reset for several positions with new deals during the 2022 offseason, and these could be used as a baseline for agents during negotiations.
The Steelers have three key players who are entering the final year of their deals: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Diontae Johnson, and Chris Boswell. Here are my detailed predictions for the contract extensions each of these players could receive in the near future:
Minkah Fitzpatrick
Contract Prediction: 5 years, $90M ($18M per year), $42M guaranteed
It is going to be very interesting to see where Minkah’s numbers fall for his extension. Will he top Jamal Adams’ deal to become the highest-paid safety in the NFL, or will he fall in line just below that number?
During the 2022 offseason, Saints safety, Marcus Williams, earned a 5-year, $70 million deal with $37 million guaranteed, via Spotrac.com. This gives him annual earnings of $14 million. He did all of this despite no Pro Bowl or All-Pro accolades.
Fitzpatrick’s deal is certainly going to come in over this number. While many would argue that the Jamal Adams deal was a bad investment (and it has been), that won’t matter in negotiations, and Minkah has clearly been the better player. Considering his age (25), production, and two First-Team All-Pro honors, I think Fitzpatrick does indeed become the highest-paid safety in the NFL at $18 million per season.