Minkah Fitzpatrick Sends Message to Steelers

A month after returning to the Miami Dolphins via trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick spoke to the media and revealed his feelings about the entire situation.

The 28-year-old first set the record straight about his excitement to rejoin the Dolphins, who selected him in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, before thanking the city of Pittsburgh, the fans and his former teammates while expressing dismay about how things played out in the end.

"I know I haven't addressed the media or posted on social media, but I just wanted to make a statement. I know I haven't addressed the media or posted on social media," Fitzpatrick said. "One, I'm not a big social media guy, you ain't gonna see me on there, period, point blank. Two, there ain't no way, shape, or form was that in expression of frustration about coming back to Miami. Three, I want to thank the city of Pittsburgh, the fans of Pittsburgh, you guys treated me very well. I enjoyed my time there and I played with some great teammates. I was very unfortunate the way things ended, but it's a part of the business. And I'm extremely, extremely excited to be a Miami Dolphin."

There was little indication that the Steelers were looking to move Fitzpatrick this offseason, making his departure in a move for tight end Jonnu Smith and cornerback Jalen Ramsey somewhat of a surprise.

The Dolphins originally sent Fitzpatrick to Pittsburgh ahead of Week 3 during the 2019 campaign for a package including a 2020 first-round pick. In parts of six seasons for the Steelers, he logged 18 interceptions and became one of the top safeties in the league while earning five Pro Bowl nods in addition to being named a first-team All-Pro on three occasions.

Fitzpatrick, who landed a $16.245 million signing bonus from the Dolphins on Sunday, made it clear that he has no interest in answering any questions about the Steelers moving forward.

"With that being said, I'm not gonna take any questions about how the transaction went down, I'm not gonna take any questions about Pittsburgh or previous coaches or anything like that," he said. "I would like to respectfully talk about this current situation, this team, my players, my coaches, and I would appreciate if you would all respect those wishes."

Without Fitzpatrick in the fold, Pittsburgh is counting on Juan Thornhill, Chuck Clark and Sebastian Castro to fill the void at safety alongside DeShon Elliott.