Earlier this month, the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers made a blockbuster trade that swapped star cornerback Jalen Ramsey for All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, among others. Since the trade, everyone has had an opinion on players and teams and where they stand.
The most recent reaction to the trade came from former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers' legend gave his breakdown of Minkah Fitzpatrick and hit on three key points on his "Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger" podcast.
Roethlisberger went into depth on the narrative around Fitzpatrick's lack of production over the last couple of years, as that may have factored into the Steelers' decision to trade the former All-Pro.
The retired quarterback first mentioned that there are always things going on outside the game of football that people on the outside don't know about, and that may have contributed.
"I know that there had kind of been some talks in the last year, maybe call it two years, that just maybe lack of production. People talked about lack of interceptions, the lack of splash, the big play wasn't there for Minkah the last year or two, and so it kind of felt like, okay they weren't real like maybe happy with it, but I didn't think that it got to this point, right?" Roethlisberger said. "And I had heard some things that - didn't Minkah have a little one or something - I thought there was something at home going on.
"Those are rumblings, but are those rumblings outside the building or in the building. Just cause the radio talks about it, or the talking heads on tv, radio, doesn't make it legit. I would say that was a big one."
However, Roethlisberger continued by defending the former Steelers' safety. Fitzpatrick played at an All-Pro level in two of the three years prior to his slip in 2023 and 2024. He led the league in interceptions in 2022 and accumulated 299 tackles and 29 passes defended between 2020 and 2022.
Fitzpatrick's number only seemed to dip in the last two seasons because he had played so well the years prior. He was still named to the Pro Bowl in the previous two seasons.
"But my counter to the lack of production, if you will, for him was, it's kind of a two-fold - if you're going to compare him to a bar he set a couple years ago, where he was doing everything - he set his own bar really high, right? He's a leader back there," Roethlisberger said. "Now, there were some rumblings that maybe there were some mistakes, now whether that's by him or he was noticing other people making mistakes, whatever it is, again we're not in the ropes, inside the lines, we don't know. But, he set a bar really high - All-Pro - those are expectations you have to do every year."
Roethlisberger also mentioned that Fitzpatrick's dip in stats could be because quarterbacks would stay away from him due to his success in previous years.
"So, that's one side, then what I'm also going to say is as the defensive back - corner, safety - if I'm a cornerback and I don't have a lot of interceptions, pass breakups - a lot of times it's because people don't throw it at me, and that also speaks for how good you are," Roethlisberger said. "So, maybe his production's down people just aren't taking those shots. Again, this is all just asking the question. I don't have the analytics.
"Maybe the analytics, or the stats say that he has given up more big plays on him than we've seen - I don't know that. But, I'm just throwing that out there, maybe it's because people aren't taking the shots at him, you know?"
The last point Roethlisberger brought up was the switching of positions and Fitzpatrick's movement within the Steelers' defense.
The Steelers looked to use Fitzpatrick's talent and versatility in numerous ways, but that can hurt the player and the others around him sometimes. Roethlisberger detailed how moving slightly out of position can mess with a player's rhythm and production.
"That's tricky too, because that can get you out of position when you're playing a position that's not your mainstay position, right? You're like, 'Okay, let's move him in the box, or let's move him out of the box, or let's move him around.' Sometimes you can make a mistake," Roethlisberger said. "If you go from a free safety to a strong safety, that'd be like me taking an outside receiver that's like an outside X, which is usually the single receiver side, where he knows he's doing this over and over, and we ask him to do something, and he's doing this.
"Now all of a sudden you put him to the trips side where there's three receivers , he's outside - well now he's got two more guys inside him - in his mind he's doing these things, and when you ask him to do the same thing on the other side, well your depth might have to be more important because there's other receivers inside you or vice versa. I'm just saying there could be some mistake when you move people around as much as there is."
Fitzpatrick has just one interception and seven passes defended over the last two seasons, but maybe a change of scenery will help the former All-Pro. Regardless, he will be heavily leaned on as a veteran and leader in Miami's secondary in 2025, as a lot of youth currently surrounds him.
