Despite earning a third-straight trip to the Pro Bowl and finishing the season with 96 tackles while playing in all 17 games, there is quite a bit of concern surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers’ veteran safety Minkah Fitzpatrick entering the 2025 season.
Fitzpatrick has seemingly lost his touch with his ability to generate splash plays in recent years, recording just one interception in the last two seasons, along with just one forced fumble, too. Coming off the 2022 season in which he tied for the league lead in interceptions with six and was a first-team all-pro for the third time with the Steelers, things continued to look great for Fitzpatrick’s future in the Steel City.
However, injuries significantly impacted him in 2023, and he was ineffective from a production standpoint in 2024, despite holding a key role in the Steelers’ defense, where he largely kept a lid on things while playing deep safety.
While there’s quite a bit of concern regarding Fitzpatrick both nationally in the media and locally, as well as in the fanbase, there is no concern with Fitzpatrick whatsoever within the Steelers’ organization, according to longtime beat reporter Mark Kaboly.
In a mailbag with readers and followers on X earlier in the week, Kaboly stated the Steelers still view Fitzpatrick as a “top player” on the team and a leader, one that they are not concerned about.
“I believe the only ones who are concerned about Fitzpatrick are the fans. They view him as a top player on the team and a leader,” Kaboly writes in his mailbag regarding Fitzpatrick, according to the post on X. “Sure, his splash plays have been minimal over the past two years, but they view the other things he does as invaluable.
“So, no, they are not concerned about him at all.”
The splash plays are the biggest concern, and why he gets the most grief recently, considering his contract and how much the Steelers have invested in him. When things were going well, like they were in 2022, there was never a peep regarding his impact or his worth.
But after two down seasons in a row, one in which he went 25 games without an interception before picking off Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in Week 15 of last season, the noise is starting to get loud regarding Fitzpatrick and his abilities at this point in his career.
Throughout the offseason, there were discussions about the Steelers potentially making Fitzpatrick available for trade. That never materialized and was more of a talking point that was drummed up by local media, rather than the Steelers themselves.
There was also plenty of debate regarding his usage, too, as the Steelers primarily kept Fitzpatrick in the deep safety role, keeping a lid on things but keeping him away from the line of scrimmage, where he’s able to roam around and be at his best. In that deep safety role last season under defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, it took away Fitzpatrick’s ability to roam, read plays, and be aggressive, which played a major part in the lack of splash.
Of course, while in that deep role, too, teams didn’t really go after Fitzpatrick, and if the ball isn’t in the vicinity, it’s hard to create splash plays.
Entering the 2025 season, there are a lot of eyes on Fitzpatrick, who needs to have a major bounce-back year from a splash-play perspective. His stock has never been lower in Pittsburgh, but with a tweak in his usage and some improvements in the secondary around him, hopefully the veteran safety can get back to his dominant ways, alleviating the concerns about his game and proving the Steelers right to not have any concerns at all.
