Browns Safety Says Steelers Minkah Fitzpatrick Best Safety in NFL

Minkah Fitzpatrick is revered around the NFL as one of the league’s best safeties, and his reputation goes so far that a Browns safety agrees with the assessment that he’s the best safety in the league as well.

Browns safety Rodney McLeod joined NFL Total Access on Tuesday evening and ranked his top five safeties in the NFL.  In the list, it included Titans safety Kevin Byard, Cardinals safety Budda Baker, Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs, and Bills safety Jordan Poyer. However, McLeod ranked Fitzpatrick at the top of his list.

McLeod, who signed with the Browns this offseason, has played over a decade in the NFL since entering the league in 2012 with the Rams. To say the least, he has been around the block and has seen a lot of high-level safety to this point. So, for Fitzpatrick to be ranked atop of the list is a huge compliment to him.

Minkah Fitzpatrick is a three-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler at this point in his career and is building up quite the resume since Pittsburgh traded for him during the 2019 season. When it came to Fitzpatrick, McLeod only had praises to sing about the impressive safety.

“He’s a guy that will manipulate the quarterback and he baits quarterbacks into throwing it exactly where he wants it as you’re seeing right there in front of you,” McLeod said. “He’s a guy that you always have to highlight and know where 39 is. He’s an impact player, and he’s done that since entering the Steelers’ defense.”

Earlier in the offseason, the Steelers restructured Firzpatrick’s contract. They converted $13.42 million of that non-guaranteed salary into a guaranteed signing bonus, and were able to spread that figure out over the length of the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2026. By doing so, it freed up over $10 million in cap space.