Despite being among the highest-paid players on the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, FS Minkah Fitzpatrick has not had a huge impact in the splash game like he did in his first few seasons in the Steel City. In the past two seasons, Fitzpatrick has had a single interception, which has led to fans’ ire being directed at him.
The cap hit for Fitzpatrick this season is $22,355,000, which has led to some fans calling for him to either be cut or traded. Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo joined TroupCast on oneBurgh’s YouTube channel. He discussed what the Steelers might do with Fitzpatrick and gave his thoughts on Fitzpatrick’s contract.
“The way the Steelers are, they’re not gonna cut you until it makes sense for them financially to cut him,” said Fittipaldo. “And like I said, the dead cap hit, whether you spread it out over one year or two years, you’re eating $15,000,000 in dead cap money, and the Steelers just don’t like to do that. I think Minkah can still be a player. I think it’s a bad contract…And it worked out okay for a year or two, but it really hasn’t worked out since. So everyone makes mistakes, but I think they’ll keep Minkah.”
Fitzpatrick was signed to an extension before the 2022 season, and it immediately looked like a great deal. That year, he picked off an NFL-leading six passes and allowed a passer rating of only 81.4 when targeted.
Since the 2022 season, Fitzpatrick’s splash play ability has taken a hit. For how much he is being paid, more splash plays are expected and he has failed to deliver. However, despite not having splash plays in 2023, Fitzpatrick still had a pretty good season surrounded by journeymen in the secondary. He allowed a passer rating of 80.6 and a completion percentage of 56.3 percent, per Pro Football Reference. That completion percentage was the best for Fitzpatrick since 2020.
Last year was admittedly a poor season for Fitzpatrick. He had one interception and allowed a passer rating when targeted of 127.6 and a complication percentage of 78.8 percent, the highest of his career. Fitzpatrick admitted he didn’t play well last year, but it is too early to write him off.
Fittipaldo points out that the contract may not be great for a player who isn’t producing many splash plays, but since Fitzpatrick signed the extension, he has been a top-five safety in the NFL. Fitzpatrick objectively played well in 2022 and 2023, even if he didn’t force turnovers in 2023. Takeaways, while important, should not define how well a player played.
Getting rid of Minkah Fitzpatrick doesn’t guarantee a replacement will play like him. Sure, S DeShon Elliott played great last year and is on a cheap contract. But that doesn’t mean that any safety is going to do that. For example, in S Damontae Kazee’s first season in Pittsburgh (2022), he played really well. Since then it has been much more bad than good for Kazee.
Before we call Minkah Fitzpatrick’s contract bad, we should see how it plays out. If Fitzpatrick comes back and intercepts a few passes next year, everyone will be singing his praises, and the contract will be good again, as he would have had three good seasons four years into his contract.
