Steelers Make Minkah Fitzpatrick NFL’s Highest Paid Safety Ever

The Steelers announced Wednesday that the organization and Minkah Fitzpatrick have agreed to a five-year contract that will make him the highest paid safety in the NFL:

We have signed S Minkah Fitzpatrick to a new five-year contract. @BordasLaw

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) June 15, 2022

Fitzpatrick’s contract extension averages him at $18.4 million per year and surpasses that of Jamal Adams, whose current contract with the Seahawks averages $17.5 million per year. It also projects that Fitzpatrick’s newly added four years of his contract would be worth an approximate $73.6 million total dollars with $36 million guaranteed.

“I am very excited,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement released by Steelers.com. “I am still kind of in shock right now. It’s a blessing. I am really excited. It’s just the beginning. I am appreciative. I am thankful. Now I just want to keep on chopping.”

The contract extension of the Steelers’ two-time First Team All-Pro safety is the first major move by the Steelers’ new general manager Omar Khan.

“We are very excited to sign Minkah to a new five-year contract,” Khan said in a statement released by the Steelers Wednesday. “Minkah is one of the top safeties in the NFL and we are thrilled he will be in Pittsburgh through at least the next five years. When we traded for him, we knew he was going to be an integral part of our defense and we look forward to that continuing as we prepare for the upcoming season.”

Fitzpatrick had been present at the Steelers’ mandatory minicamp the previous week, but wasn’t a full participant.

As Nick Farabaugh reported, none of the Steelers were concerned whether the contract would get done. All indications from both sides made it clear that the Steelers and Fitzpatrick wanted to get the deal done, and that Khan was willing to pay Fitzpatrick handsomely for the next several years.

T.J. Watt, the Steelers’ highest paid player, celebrated the announcement with a tweet that acknowledged Fitzpatrick’s work to earn the deal:

Earned!!! https://t.co/bSjMYeJqzR

— TJ Watt (@_TJWatt) June 15, 2022

Details on the contract have yet to be released, but Fitzpatrick’s fifth-year extension made him worth a salary cap hit of $10.6 million prior to this new contract. This extension keeps the 25-year old safety with the organization through the 2026 season.

“I love the history here,” Fitzpatrick said about the Steelers via Steelers.com. “What it stands for. The standard we are held to. The standard Coach (Mike) Tomlin holds us to, on the field and off the field. The standard of winning playoff games, division titles and championship games.”