The date: Sept. 16, 2019
Steelers got: S
Minkah Fitzpatrick, 2020 fourth-round pick, 2021 seventh-round pick
Dolphins got: 2020 first-round pick, 2020 fifth-round pick, 2021 sixth-round pick
Steelers draft picks became: OL
Kevin Dotson, CB
Tre Norwood
Dolphins draft picks became: T
Austin Jackson, DL
Jason Strowbridge, RB
DeAndre Washington (as part of a pick swap)
At the time: This was a surprising one. Fitzpatrick started his 2020 season as a member of the Dolphins, where he was torched in the slot by Ravens speedster
Marquise Brown before being benched. Two weeks later, with Steelers free safety
Sean Davis done for the year, Pittsburgh sent a first-round pick to Miami to get Fitzpatrick. I didn't like this deal, especially since we knew
Ben Roethlisberger was undergoing surgery. In what was likely to be a lost season for the Steelers, I thought Pittsburgh should have
kept its first-round pick in case it was needed to replace Roethlisberger.
What happened: I was wrong. Fitzpatrick was transitioned out of the slot role he played with the Dolphins into a full-time free safety for the Steelers and made an immediate impact. By the end of the year, he had picked off five passes on the way to being named a first-team All-Pro. The Steelers still don't have a succession plan for the post-Roethlisberger era, but Fitzpatrick is a building block on one of the league's most talented defenses.
The Dolphins were tanking, but trading Fitzpatrick wasn't the same as trading
Laremy Tunsil. Tunsil had run through three cost-controlled seasons and was already eligible for an extension. Fitzpatrick was entering his second cost-controlled year and still had two years left before the Dolphins even had to worry about considering a new deal. He would fit right in as the free safety on a team dedicated to building through its secondary. Jackson was raw as a rookie and still has plenty of time to develop at left tackle, but it would take a lot for him to catch up to Fitzpatrick, even with the extra year of cost control.
In hindsight: Win for Steelers