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ESPN poll of NFL personnel proves that the rest of the league has a clear winner after the Steelers' trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 5:24 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers made a jaw-dropping move a little over a week ago when they traded the face of their secondary away via Minkah Fitzpatrick.

A lot of people, even within the league, pushed back against the idea that the Steelers won the trade.

But when you see where the league placed Minkah in their safety rankings, there is a clear winner and loser of the trade...

Minkah Fitzpatrick ranked 9th-best safety in ESPN poll of NFL personnel

We penciled in Fitzpatrick as a Steelers safety until Pittsburgh and Miami's splash trade on June 30 forced a quick edit. Now, he is back with the team that drafted him 11th overall in 2018.

This move is a welcome change for Fitzpatrick, whose ball production dipped the past two seasons. After recording 17 interceptions and 38 pass breakups from 2019-22, he managed one and seven, respectively, from 2023-24.

-Jeremy Fowler, ESPN

The facts lie within the numbers when it comes to Minkah. Some have crafted this idea that he and the Steelers weren't seeing eye to eye or had a falling out.

The truth is, the Steelers knew that the player they were paying to make splash plays wasn't making them. They knew that his interceptions, pass breakups, and tackling was a problem, and they decided to swap him for a more versatile player via Jalen Ramsey.

It should be noted that Minkah dropped from 1 to 4 to 9 in this poll from 2022-2024.

"He was the best in the NFL for years but is slowing down," an AFC executive told Fowler . . .

" . . . He still has a lot to offer -- incredibly hard worker, tone-setter, super solid running things on the back end and preventing big plays, things that go unnoticed," an NFL coordinator told Fowler. "I'm expecting a bounce-back year from him."

And hopefully he does. Hopefully Minkah gets back to the playmakimg capabilities he's flashed his whole career. But the Steelers saw him fully healthy for most of 2024, and he just didn't produce.

Time will tell who's right in the end.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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