NFL trade grades for the Minkah Fitzpatrick-Jalen Ramsey deal between Dolphins and Steelers

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The Dolphins and Steelers completed a fascinating trade. Let’s grade it from both sides.

The last day of June was supposed to be a quiet one in the NFL.

“Not so fast my friends,” said the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In a blockbuster NFL trade involving more players than draft picks, the Dolphins are sending star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, tight end Jonnu Smith, and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

Let’s grade the deal from both sides.

Pittsburgh Steelers: B-

How you grade this move may come down to where you stand on the notion of cornerbacks versus safeties in today’s NFL.

On the one hand, this trade brings in a talented player to Pittsburgh’s defense, and their cornerback group. The Steelers already added Darius Slay this offseason, bringing him into a secondary where Joey Porter Jr. is entrenched as one of the outside cornerbacks.

This move gives Pittsburgh a CB trio of Ramsey, Slay, and Porter. With Ramsey’s ability to play inside as well as along the boundary, the move allows defensive coordinator Teryl Austin to utilize different matchups depending on their opponent. With most offenses still favorite 11 offensive personnel, that gives Austin three very good options at cornerback, and players he can base matchups around.

Where this move gets downgraded comes in the price Pittsburgh paid for Ramsey. Sending Fitzpatrick to Miami is a steep cost. Yes, Pittsburgh added Juan Thornhill to their safety group this offseason, but he does represent a downgrade at the position from Fitzpatrick. Pittsburgh also relied heavily on single-high coverages with Fitzpatrick as that deep safety, and removing him from the mix may require a change in defensive emphasis.

Again, how you feel about this deal may come down to how you feel about cornerbacks versus safeties. The Ramsey trade certainly offers a big boost to Pittsburgh’s cornerback room and allows Austin to play with CB-WR matchups as noted above.

But safety play in today’s NFL does matter, and downgrading at that spot is a price to pay, beyond the financials. Pittsburgh is reportedly bumping Ramsey’s paycheck by $1.5 million this year, increasing his salary to $26.6 million.

Yes, Arthur Smith has a soft spot for Jonnu Smith, so that does bring an added benefit for Pittsburgh. But it remains to be seen how the pairing of Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers unfolds.

Miami Dolphins: A-

Financial realities have started to come home for the Miami Dolphins.

But Chris Greer made the most of those realities today.

When the team signed quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212-million contract extension last summer they did so knowing that bill would come due in the years ahead.

That bill has arrived.

Under the terms of Tagovailoa’s contract his base salary, which was $1,125,000 last season, balloons to $25,046,000 this year. When you factor in his signing and other bonuses, Tagovailoa’s cap hit of $9,526,890 in 2024 explodes to $29,181,294 this year.

That means that general manager Chris Grier faced some decisions.

One of those centered on Ramsey’s future, as Grier noted back in April when he told reporters that the parties had agreed to explore a trade of the star cornerback.

“Really after a couple weeks of discussions between ourselves internally and Jalen and his representation, we decided that it was probably in the best interest for all parties to move forward,” Grier said in April. “I will say these decisions aren’t done quickly and they’re not taken lightly because we spent a lot of time this offseason working through this, talking through things. At the end of the day, Jalen did not ask for a trade.”

Grier also declared that a trade of Ramsey gives the Dolphins their “best chance to help us win not only just this year but in the future as well.”

Given the financial implications and the declared interest in moving Ramsey, it seemed like the Dolphins might not get much in return. But with the Los Angeles Rams also in the mix for the CB, the Dolphins were able to land a big piece in return in Fitzpatrick.

Miami lost Jevon Holland in free agency, with the young safety heading to the New York Giants. Now they replace Holland with one of the game’s top talents at safety and bring Fitzpatrick home to where he began his career. Fitzpatrick was the team’s first-round pick in 2018, and now he heads home.

That gives Miami Fitzpatrick along with additions Ashtyn Davis and Ifeatu Melifonwu as options at the back of their secondary.

As for losing Smith, he did haul in 88 passes for 884 yards and eight touchdowns a season ago, so that is production that Tagovailoa and Mike McDaniel will need to replace. Losing that production is the main reason this trade is not graded any higher.