When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran safety DeShon Elliott to a two-year contract extension in June, it was met with praise by the fanbase. Elliott had an excellent first season in Pittsburgh in 2024, and the price was right.
After inking a two-year, $6 million deal with the Steelers last offseason, general manager Omar Khan wasted no time coming to terms with Elliott on a two-year, $12.5 million extension in 2025. This was a significant pay bump, earning Elliott just over twice what he did on his first contract with Pittsburgh. Still, at $6.25 million per season in new average earnings, Elliott's deal ranks just 28th among NFL safeties at the time of his signing.
But Elliott's extension creates an elephant in the room that nobody seems to want to address: Minkah Fitzpatrick's current contract.
When Fitzpatrick joined the Steelers, his immediate impact was undeniable. The former first-round pick out of Alabama was traded from Miami to Pittsburgh and quickly earned All-Pro honors in 2019. Between 2019 and 2020, Minkah was at the peak of his game, and it aided the Steelers to one of the top defenses in the NFL.
After a down season in 2021, Fitzpatrick bounced back with a brilliant 2022 campaign, leading the NFL with six interceptions while earning the third-highest PFF grade among all safeties. But since then, the perennial Pro Bowler has gone quiet. Now the Steelers need to take a long, hard look at his future with the team.
The Pittsburgh Steelers must consider moving on from Minkah Fitzpatrick
In the first five seasons of his NFL career, Minkah Fitzpatrick earned three First-Team All-Pro honors and even warranted some Defensive Player of the Year consideration. His remarkable performances on his rookie contract prompted the Steelers to make him the highest-paid safety in the league with a four-year, $72.988 million contract during the 2022 offseason.
However, three years and one contract restructure later, the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in a bind with one of their most established players.
Because of the way Omar Khan re-worked Minkah's deal, the veteran safety has substantial salary cap numbers over his final two seasons. For 2025, Fitzpatrick is set to cost $22.355 million against Pittsburgh's salary cap space. This number jumps up to $24.455 million in the final year of his deal in 2026.
Sadly, a cap figure like this is nearly impossible to justify for a safety these days, especially for one who hasn't come close to producing as expected.
Since the end of the 2022 season, Minkah has recorded just one interception while being credited with seven passes defended over the past 27 games. In 2024, Fitzpatrick surrendered four touchdowns while allowing 41 of 52 targets to be completed in his coverage for a career-high 540 yards. This equated to a 127.6 passer rating allowed by opposing quarterbacks, per advanced data from Pro Football Reference.
Pro Football Focus backs up Minkah's pedestrian play as of late. In 2024, Fitzpatrick earned just the 44th-highest grade among NFL safeties, while his PFF coverage grade of 64.9 ranked 33rd among 96 qualifying players.
Now, Fitzpatrick is entering his age-29 season and is about to begin his third combined year with just one total interception under his belt. We can chalk some of this up to opposing teams looking to avoid throwing his way, but a lack of splash plays can only get you so far as a safety, and, eventually, you have to produce.
Minkah Fitzpatrick is still a good football player; there's no doubt about that. But after seeing DeShon Elliott sign an extension during the 2025 offseason for a fraction of the price, the Pittsburgh Steelers need to take a hard look at Minkah's future and decide whether he should be part of it.