Patience is a virtue.
T.J. Watt learned that a year ago when he waited until just before the start of the regular season to sign his record-breaking $112-million contract with the Steelers that made him the league's highest-paid defensive player.
For Minkah Fitzpatrick, the wait wasn't nearly as long.
Fitzpatrick signed a four-year contract extension worth an average of $18.4 million per year that also includes a $36-million signing bonus on Wednesday. The deal, which makes him the highest-paid safety in the league, came together quickly, taking just a few weeks rather than the months it took for Watt's deal to be completed.
Omar Khan and Art Rooney II didn't want this negotiating process to be any kind of distraction throughout training camp.
"It was what Omar and Mr. Rooney wanted to do," Fitzpatrick said Thursday at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex. "We started the negotiation process a few weeks ago. We made an offer, then they made and offer. We went back and forth. I wanted to be here."
And, he wanted to be available to practice during training camp when players report to Saint Vincent College July 26. Watt attended all of the Steelers' training camp practices last season, but did not participate in the team portion of drills, only doing individual position drills while the contract was worked out.
Fitzpatrick attended the majority of the team's OTA sessions this offseason and also was at the Steelers' mandatory minicamp last week, even though he didn't work in the team portion of drills.
But the two-time All-Pro safety felt it was important for him to be there, even though OTA sessions are voluntary.
"One, because it’s hard for me to be away from the game. I love the game. It’s a big part of what I am, my identity," Fitzpatrick said. "Two, I could have been at home with my family, training. I really wanted to come here and show my teammates that I’m focused on winning. Being present, I’m a hands-on guy. I know what the standard is, and I know how to hold guys to that standard. I feel like I’m a leader in the secondary and I wanted to start building that standard now. Even though I wasn’t practicing, I could still coach. I could still talk. I could break down film with guys. I just wanted to let the guys know that this is important to me. Even though I was going through a contract situation, the team was first."
Fitzpatrick put the team first in 2021, as well. With defensive linemen Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt out for all but five quarters of the season, opponents had an easier time running the ball against the Steelers. As a result, Fitzpatrick was asked to be the last line of defense in the run defense more often than in the past. Though his interception numbers suffered -- he had just two last season, his lowest total since joining the Steelers -- he wound up leading the team with a career-high 124 tackles.
After recording nine interceptions in his first two seasons with the Steelers, it led to Fitzpatrick not being named All-Pro for the first time since joining the team via trade two weeks into the 2019 season.
But the Steelers were most certainly not unhappy with his play, making him the league's highest-paid safety.
"I think I’m the best at what I do," Fitzpatrick said when asked if being the highest-paid player at his position was important. "So, obviously you would like to be paid in that way. Whether it’s a week from now or a year from now, somebody is going to pass it up, but you want to raise the bar for the guys behind you and the people in the locker room. Omar and Mr. Rooney see the work I put in."
So did new Steelers senior defensive assistant Brian Flores when he was head coach of the Dolphins. Flores was in his first year with the Dolphins when Fitzpatrick, the team's first-round draft pick and the 11th-overall selection in 2018, went to the front office and asked to be traded.
With few defensive stars on hand, the Miami coaching staff saw Fitzpatrick as a chess piece it could move around. He played safety, slot corner and even some linebacker. There also were undertones that the team was "tanking" that season to position itself to acquire a quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft, something Flores has alleged in a lawsuit against the Dolphins following his firing after the 2021 season.
"It’s been good. Coach Flo is a great coach," Fitzpatrick said of having Flores joining the Steelers' coaching staff this year. "He’s a smart guy. He’s a guy that holds everyone to a high standard. I think that’s something we really needed. He’s a detail-oriented guy. He’s not a guy who is going to let things get pushed to the side. He’s going to stress them and get them right. He might not tell you exactly how you want to hear it. He’s going to get on you. He’s a great coach."
But the move to the Steelers helped Fitzpatrick a great deal.
Unlike the Dolphins, the Steelers put Fitzpatrick at free safety and kept him there. And he's flourished as he's gotten more comfortable.
"I think I’ve evolved a lot. My first game with the Steelers at San Francisco was my first time playing full-time free safety," Fitzpatrick said. "My first few games in Miami, I was moving around quite a bit. That was the first time I really played free safety in the league. I played four games in college. From that time to now, I’ve learned the type of player that I am. I’ve learned my strengths. I’ve learned my weaknesses. I know what I need to work on, what I’m good at. I’ve been able to evolve my identity and evolve into the player I am today. I’m still learning. You can still find ways to get better and improve, but I’m a totally different player than I was when I got here."
And Pittsburgh was where he wanted to be and continue his career.
He had no desire to test the free agency market after this season, even though he could have perhaps gotten even more money once Cincinnati's Jessie Bates or Derwin James of the Chargers -- two other high-profile safeties who are set to become free agents -- reset the safety market once again.
"The thing I appreciate most about this organization is the commitment to winning," Fitzpatrick said. "All the things we do, even me coming here is a commitment to winning. Even in a season where we lost our quarterback, a legendary, Hall of Fame quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger), it could have been a season where we would take it easy or call it quits. But they went out and acquired two others guys, and we’re going to try to win games."
