Two-time Alabama national champion and two-time All-American Minkah Fitzpatrick began his NFL career with a major trade from Miami to Pittsburgh, but now, the Alabama Crimson Tide legend is heading back to South Beach. In a blockbuster trade on Monday morning, the Steelers swapped Fitzpatrick, a three-time All-Pro at safety, for three-time All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Fitzpatrick is heading into his age-29 season after five full seasons in Pittsburgh, and despite being named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last two years, was viewed by many as a diminishing asset. Ramsey, who will turn 31 in October, was not named to the Pro Bowl in 2024, for the first time since 2019.
ESPN sources: Steelers traded three-time All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Dolphins in exchange for three-time All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 30, 2025
The rare player-for-player trade, and another trade.
Minkah Fitzpatrick swapped for Jalen Ramsey
Much has changed in Miami since Fitzpatrick first left the organization midway through his second season. The Dolphins had just hired Brian Flores as their head coach and were tearing the roster down to the studs. Fitzpatrick was forced to split time between safety and cornerback early in his career, which diminished his value in the organization's eyes and soured him on the franchise. So, instead of a building block, the 2018 first-round pick was a casualty of that rebuild.
Fitzpatrick found immediate success as a full-time free safety in Pittsburgh, rescuing the Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger went out for the season with an elbow injury. Fitzpatrick finished that season with five interceptions, a mark he later eclipsed in 2022, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and two touchdowns.
The former Alabama star made his NFL career as a ball-hawking safety, but as structural issues on Pittsburgh’s defense gradually shifted him closer to the line of scrimmage, his turnover production began to tail off. Over the past two seasons, Fitzpatrick has just one interception, causing many to speculate that he’s beginning to lose a step.
Fitzpatrick’s return to Miami will be an opportunity for him to prove those theories wrong in the final two years of his four-year contract extension that he signed with Pittsburgh in 2022.
Flores is long gone, now the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, and his successor is even on a bit of a hot seat. Mike McDaniel appeared to be an offensive wunderkind when he was first hired off Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco, but that shine has worn off after an 8-9 finish last season. On the defensive side of the ball, however, DC Anthony Weaver is a rising name in the industry, and if he can revive Fitzpatrick's career, he could earn himself a head coaching job next offseason.