Pittsburgh Steelers: Minkah Fitzpatrick trade comes at questionable time
The Pittsburgh Steelers traded a first-round pick for Minkah Fitzpatrick the day they lost Ben Roethlisberger. The timing is questionable at best.
Monday was a rollercoaster day for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Early in the 24-hour period, the received news that starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger‘s injury will keep him out for the season, meaning Mason Rudolph is now the guy. But then the evening brought big news as the Steelers traded for Dolphins defensive back and 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick.
First reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers are sending a 2020 first-round pick, a 2020 fifth-round pick and a 2021 sixth-round pick swap to the Dolphins for Fitzpatrick, a 2020 fourth-round pick and the aforementioned pick swap in 2021.
Just looking at how Fitzpatrick fits, this move isn’t hard to decipher for Pittsburgh. This is a secondary that, despite the attention the Steelers front office has paid to it, has continued to struggle. Fitzpatrick is a defensive back capable of playing at safety or coming up to corner in coverage, which offers the Steelers a tremendous amount of versatility to help that group.
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This isn’t about Minkah Fitzpatrick though. He’s a fantastic young player that can help the Pittsburgh defense. This is about the timing of the trade for the Steelers, which is truly baffling.
In the wake of the Roethlisberger injury, everyone began pouring dirt on Pittsburgh and for good reason. After all, this is a team that is already 0-2 to start the 2019 season and is now losing arguably their most reliable offensive commodity and turning to an unknown asset in Rudolph. That doesn’t normally spell success for a team.
Subsequently, you would expect that Steelers to then maximize their gain out of a bad situation. If the team indeed spirals downward without Roethlisberger, then it stands to reason that they would get a high first-round pick and add an elite player to help for a playoff push whenever Big Ben returns.
Instead, the team is trading that first-round pick for Fitzpatrick. And while Fitzpatrick is clearly a first-round caliber talent, he also comes with two fewer years on his rookie contract than a player they would draft in 2020. Furthermore, they are adding a player that likely isn’t going to change their fortunes for the 2019 season given the injury to Roethlisberger.
If the Steelers had elected to trade for the defensive back prior to the injury, that would’ve made complete sense. Even with a struggling start to the 2019 campaign, he could’ve been a catalyst on defense to help turn things around.
With Rudolph helming the offense, though, that becomes incredibly less likely to transpire. Instead, you’re adding a good piece on defense to a team that’s still going to miss the playoffs in lieu of utilizing what should be a highly valuable draft pick that could be even more valuable in a quarterback-heavy 2020 draft class.
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Again, this isn’t to say that Minkah Fitzpatrick won’t be good for the Pittsburgh Steelers. On the contrary — I think he’s a great addition for this defensive situation. However, the timing of the trade and the decision-making behind it given the circumstances deserves to be called into question.