Could the Steelers have signed Minkah Fitzpatrick cheaper?

Minkah Fitzpatrick agreed to an extension to keep him in Pittsburgh, but could the Steelers have signed him to a cheaper deal than the one they did?

After the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a first-round pick to acquire Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins in 2020, we all knew that he was going to be a player who would earn a second contract in Pittsburgh. It’s hard to justify giving up elite draft capital to simply be a short-term rental.

These thoughts were confirmed on June 15th, as Fitzpatrick inked a deal with the Steelers that would make him the richest safety in the history of the NFL. According to Adam Schefter, Minkah’s four-year extension includes $36 million in guarantees and will pay him over $18.4 million in annual earnings.

This jaw-dropping contract immediately skyrockets over Jamal Adams’ deal he signed with Seattle in 2021. Before Fitzpatrick, it was Adams who was the highest-paid safety ever — earning $17.5 million per year on his new contract.

Unfortunately, Adams hasn’t come close to earning the money he has taken from the Seahawks. Despite proving his worth as a run defender who can act as a pass rusher off the edge, Adams has earned remarkably low coverage grades over the past two seasons, according to Pro Football Focus.

Last year, Adams graded out as just the 62nd-best overall safety in the NFL among 92 qualifying players. Sadly, it was Adams’ contract that set the stage for Minkah Fitzpatrick’s agent to swoop in and collect his bag.

Could Steelers have kept Minkah for less money?

While I could argue for hours that Jamal Adams isn’t worth nearly as much as he was given on his new extension, that part just doesn’t matter when it comes to negotiations. If not for the safety market resetting last offseason, it’s possible that Minkah could have been extended for somewhere in the $15-16 million per year range.

That certainly was never going to happen in 2022. After Adams, Justin Simmons, and Harrison Smith each received new deals last year, I fully expected Minkah to leapfrog these safeties to be the highest-paid at his position in the NFL.

My recent detailed contract prediction came in just lower than this number. I thought Fitzpatrick would earn $18.0 million per season, but the Steelers tacked on a little extra — setting his new-money annual earnings at $18.4 million per year.

As was the case for Jamal Adams, we can argue about whether or not Fitzpatrick is worth this much money. While he came up big down the stretch last year with some game-saving pass defenses and forced fumbles, the overall sample was quite what we were used to seeing with him when compared to his 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Regardless, his two-time First-Team All-Pro status and 13 career interceptions by the age of 25 made it easy to predict that he would be the NFL’s highest-paid safety — despite having a slightly down year in 2022.

In short, Omar Khan and the Pittsburgh Steelers probably could have played chicken and drug this process out through training camp to save a few pennies, but Minkah Fitzpatrick was always going to be the highest-paid safety no matter what. It’s probably best to get this extension out of the way so he can focus on the upcoming season.