We take a look back at the Miami Dolphins trade of safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Miami Dolphins used the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to acquire a Swiss Army knife of a defensive player, selecting Alabama safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Under then head coach Adam Gase, Fitzpatrick was initially listed as the backup behind Reshad Jones and T.J. McDonald at safety, but Fitzpatrick forced his way into the starting lineup for most of the season, with the Dolphins utilizing all three players on the field.
Miami fired Gase after the season, hiring Brian Flores as his replacement. Flores, in designing his defensive scheme, looked to use Fitzpatrick as a strong safety and linebacker, looking to create mismatches, but, according to the player, limiting his ability to use his athleticism to his advantage.
In 2020, Fitzpatrick looked back at his time with Flores in Miami during an interview with Bleacher Report. He explained, “Even though they have me in the wrong spot and other players know they have me in the wrong spot. Even though I disagree with the coaches. I’m still going to follow their lead.
“It was messing up my skill set. I was working the hand-fighting drills against the tight ends and working on hitting the bags and stuff like that. That’s fine and dandy, but that wasn’t my skill set.”
Fitzpatrick went on to ask Flores to allow him to work in coverage during practice, putting back in his free safety position where he felt his athleticism and his understanding of the game and opponents allowed him to succeed. The coaches moved him for one practice into coverage drills, but did not give him any true reps, so the next practice, Fitzpatrick admitted he “went rogue” and joined the one-on-one drills with the defensive backs rather than continue the drills against the linemen and tight ends.
The frustration between Fitzpatrick and the Flores administration continued to grow through training camp and into the season. Fitzpatrick was thrown back into the free safety role to start the season, despite having spent all training camp working as an in-the-box strong safety. After the game Fitzpatrick asked to be traded.
“We had a difference of opinion in my skill set and what he thought I could do and what I thought I could do,” Fitzpatrick told Bleacher Report. “It was going to get tough for me to show something to somebody they were choosing not to see. They didn’t give me the opportunity to show it, even though I had film that showed it. The losing and all that stuff? If I was put in the right position and we’re losing—because of decisions people made upstairs—it is what it is. I can only control how I play. That didn’t affect me at all.
“It was just a fact that I was being used the wrong way. And we had a difference of opinion between myself and the head coach.”
Fitzpatrick played one more game for Miami before a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers materialized and the Dolphins shipped the 2018 11th overall pick out the door after 18 games.
Now, five full seasons – plus the 14 games he played in 2019 with the Steelers – we take a look back at what still feels like a miserable trade for the Dolphins.
Dolphins-Steelers trade recap:
Dolphins receive:
2020 first-round pick
2020 fifth-round pick
2021 sixth-round pick
Steelers receive:
Minkah Fitzpatrick
2020 fourth-round pick
2021 seventh-round pick
What happened with the picks?
- Dolphins’ 2020 first-round pick: 18th overall – Austin Jackson, tackle, USC
- Steelers 2020 fourth-round pick: 135th overall (from Tennessee Titans via Miami Dolphins) – Kevin Dotson, guard, Louisiana. Miami received this pick as part of the trade sending quarterback Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans
- Dolphins 2020 fifth-round pick: 154th overall (from Jacksonville Jaguars via Pittsburgh Steelers) – Jason Strowbridge, defensive end, North Carolina. Steelers traded quarterback Joshua Dobbs to Jacksonville receiving this pick in exchange.
- Dolphins 2021 sixth-round pick: 207th overall – Traded to Kansas City Chiefs for a seventh-round pick (258th overall) and running back DeAndre Washington. Kansas City traded the pick to the New York Jets who selected Jonathan Marshall, defensive tackle, Arkansas
- Steelers 2021 seventh-round pick: 245th overall – Tre Norwood, cornerback, Oklahoma
- Dolphins’ 2021 seventh-round pick from Chiefs: 258th overall – Traded, along with offensive lineman Ereck Flowers, to Washington Football Team for pick 244; 244th overall – Gerrid Doaks, running back, Cincinnati. Washington received this pick and offensive tackle David Sharpe from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a sixth-round pick (203rd overall).
Recapping the players’ careers:
Dolphins:
The Dolphins turned Fitzpatrick and two draft picks into three picks from the Steelers. The 18th pick, used on Jackson, was the second of three first-round picks Miami made in 2020, selecting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth pick and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene with the 30th selection. Jackson, in his five seasons with the Dolphins, has cemented himself as the starting right tackle, protecting the left-handed Tagovailoa’s blind side, after spending the early portion of his career bouncing around the line, including working at left tackle and left guard. He has played in 56 games in his career, starting 54. After being the only offensive lineman to play every snap in 2023, Jackson was limited to just eight games in 2024 with a knee injury.
Strowbridge, selected in the fifth round, was expected to be a developmental defensive lineman, moving from a rotational pass rusher at North Carolina into a depth defensive tackle/run stuffer with Miami. He spent much of his time bouncing between the practice squad and the active roster as a rookie, appearing in eight games and recording three tackles. He started the 2021 season on the practice squad, but was released a week into the season and never picked up by anyone else.
The 2021 sixth-round pick from the Steelers was turned into a seventh-round pick and running back DeAndre Washington during the 2020 season. Washington began the season as a practice squad player for Kansas City, who signed him as a free agent during the offseason. He made one appearance for the team before being traded to Miami, where he appeared in three more games, including one start, during the season. He recorded 28 carries for 86 yards for the Dolphins. His one-year contract expired after the season, and he never joined anyone else, effectively retiring after the season.
Miami packaged the 2021 seventh-round pick they received from the Chiefs with tackle Ereck Flowers to acquire the 244th pick, which they used on Doaks. The running back spent 2021 on the team’s practice squad, never making a game appearance. He was waived at the end of the 2022 preseason, eventually signing with the Houston Texans, spending two years on and off their practice squad. He was signed to a reserve/futures contract ahead of the 2024 offseason, but was waived in May 2024 and has not signed with anyone else.
Steelers:
Fitzpatrick has become of the top free safeties in the league, continuing to move around the Steelers’ defense and use his skills to make plays. Since joining Pittsburgh, he has started 88 games in five-plus seasons. He has 516 tackles, 45 passes defensed, 18 interceptions with three touchdowns, four forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries with a touchdown over that span and has been named to the Pro Bowl five times, only missing the 2021 all-star event. He has also been a three-time First-Team All-Pro selection.
Doston, the Steelers’ 2020 fourth-round pick received from the Dolphins, primarily played left guard for Pittsburgh, starting 30 of 39 games in which he played. The Steelers sent Dotson, a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams at the end of the 2023 preseason, receiving in return a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
Note: the 2024 fourth-round pick would be traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, who then traded it to the Dolphins, who used it to select Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright with the 120th overall selection.
Norwood, selected with the 2021 seventh-round pick received from Miami (245th overall), appeared in 32 games in two seasons for Pittsburgh. He recorded 61 tackles, four passes defensed, and an interception before being waived at the end of the 2023 preseason. He had brief practice squad stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills during the 2023 season. He spent 2024 and 2025 with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL.
Who won the trade?
This one is easy. The Steelers absolutely dominated the Dolphins with this trade, though Miami really did not have a choice with Fitzpatrick. The Flores era in Miami was not one that will go down as a success, and trading away Fitzpatrick was a big part of the team’s struggles. The rift between Flores and Fitzpatrick grew too large for the Dolphins to do anything other than make a trade.
Jackson at least gives the Dolphins a respectable outcome from the deal, locking down the right tackle position, but overall, this was a bad trade for the Dolphins who lost a All-Pro free safety because they wanted to use him in a way that did not fit his strengths and did not want to listen to him when he raised concerns.
