ESPN's grade for the Steelers' blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins proves there is a national narrative that is dead wrong

For whatever reason, people seem to believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers just traded Minkah Fitzpatrick for no reason. 

Or that they traded the same Minkah Fitzpatrick from 2019-2022. 

ESPN is the latest in that line of thinking, following the grade they gave the Steelers trade...

ESPN gives the Steelers a C grade for the Dolphins trade

Altogether, I have a hard time getting on board with this move for the Steelers. It's logical for them to improve the team to maximize their upside. And there is upside, particularly because the defense has the potential to be great. But I don't know that this move really improved Pittsburgh in 2025 or beyond, and it came at a cost. The optimistic view is that Ramsey has been a star in the past and can be a star again, and we might well look back on this trade as being part of the realization of that upside case for Pittsburgh's defense.

- Seth Walder, ESPN

Let's start in the here and now, because that's all that matters. Every major move (outside of the DK Metcalf trade) the Steelers have done this offseason is for 2025. Darius Slay, first-round pick Derrick Harmon, Aaron Rodgers and now Ramsey and Jonnu Smith. 

These are moves to try and win a Super Bowl now. Sure, Harmon can be a staple for 10+ years on the D-line, but sure up the one major weakness, while going all in at every other weakness proves the team is ok with Super Bowl or bust for 2025. 

Also, when Walder or anyone else for that matter says the move came with a cost, or that the Dolphins received the best player in the trade via Minkah, I question if they watched his last two years in a Steelers uniform. 

An injury-riddled 2023 followed up by an unproductive 2024 with a contract extension looming next summer made the decision fairly easy for the Steelers when their return was a pair of Pro Bowlers, who again, in 2025, will be assets to the team.