Steelers Restructure Contract of FS Minkah Fitzpatrick to Create Cap Space

The Pittsburgh Steelers have restructured the contract of free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in a move to free up some salary cap space in 2023.

Fitzpatrick had been set to count for $18 million against the Steelers’ 2023 salary cap, with $3.5 million in deferred signing bonus and $14.5 million in salary.

The Steelers 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.

That means that Fitzpatrick will now have a league-minimum salary of $1.08 million in 2023, and his original deferred signing bonus of $3.5 and the newly deferred signing bonus of $3.355 for a total of $7.935 million in cap hit in 2023.

The move will save the Steelers just over $10 million in 2023 cap space. Fitzpatrick’s projected cap hit in 2024 will rise from $18 million to $21.355 million.

The Steelers will likely need to repeat this same process with T.J. Watt in order to finish their offseason business and remain salary cap complaint.

With the additions of guard Nate Herbig and cornerback Patrick Peterson calculated this week, the Steelers had $6.237 million in cap space remaining. Contract details for the addition of linebacker Cole Holbcomb and the re-singing of safety Damontae Kazee and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi have not yet been made available, so it is not possible to completely calculate the Steelers’ current cap position.

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The move has minimal impact on Fitzpatrick, other than move up the timeframe of when he gets some of his contracted salary and guaranteeing a portion of his deal that was previously not guaranteed.

The Steelers should have no qualms about him getting more guaranteed money after he led the NFL with six interceptions in 2022 and turned in this third All-Pro performance in four years since joining the Steelers in a mid-season trade in 2019.