Why are the Steelers taking so long to pay Minkah Fitzpatrick?

Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is one of the team’s top players today. Why hasn’t he been paid yet?

There are few talents on the Pittsburgh Steelers defense that have truly established themselves as superstars, and because of that, the struggling franchise should prioritize keeping as many of them around as possible. This mindset should include the current dilemma regarding young safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who has strongly solidified himself as a headliner within both the defensive back units and the defense as a whole.

One of the hottest topics out of Pittsburgh today is the uncertainty regarding Fitzpatrick’s contract, with a sizable amount of media attention surrounding the question of why the man hasn’t been paid his share yet.

Now it’s not hard to grasp the fact that the NFL is a business, and franchises can’t just blindly sling money everywhere it’s wanted—that’s the reason behind hearing as much as we do about financial disputes, to begin with.

Steelers must pay Fitzpatrick

However, of all the players on the Steelers roster that need to check their ideas of appropriate compensation at the door, Fitzpatrick is one of the last.

Again, he has cemented himself as one in an exclusive bunch on the Steelers defense: those that are top performers/leaders on a consistent basis. Outside of him, there’s T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward—the line wears pretty thin after that.

Of course, there are talents like Terrell Edmunds and Alex Highsmith who have both shown promise on multiple occasions, but neither them nor anyone else on the depth chart have certified themselves quite like those of the aforementioned trio. But nonetheless, Fitzpatrick’s satisfaction/future with Pittsburgh is still ambiguous right now.

This isn’t the first time that the Steelers have needlessly left their stars waiting on an adequate contract, either. They pulled a similar stunt with T.J. Watt last year, and he is undoubtedly the best player on the entire team today.

That could actually be a sign of hope, though, as that means that this concern revolving around Fitzpatrick’s situation may all be for nothing just as it was with Watt’s. However, this matter even being discussed is still nothing short of ridiculous.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a nifty franchise that can almost always be trusted when it comes to handling its players, but Minkah Fitzpatrick is one that fans shouldn’t have to think about being tossed away. So no matter what, this level of suspense should have never even been conjured.