Minkah Fitzpatrick is no longer the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Derwin James' new deal signed recently eclipsed the 4-year, $73.6 million extension Fitzpatrick signed in June.
But that doesn't mean Fitzpatrick isn't still doing everything he can to earn his keep.
Thursday, as the Steelers continued preparation for their third and final preseason game Sunday afternoon against the Lions, Fitzpatrick was in his usual spot with the starting defense when the scout team offense was on the field. Then, when the period ended and it was time for the first-team offense to work against the scout team defense, Fitzpatrick stayed on the field.
There aren't too many scout team players who just got a $17.5-million signing bonus as Fitzpatrick did just a couple of months ago with his new deal.
"I’m out here to get better any way that I can," Fitzpatrick told me. "If that means I’ve got to get scout team reps, I’ll get scout team reps. I’m making the offense better, as well."
Still, a high-priced player such as Fitzpatrick working on the scout team is an oddity.
"I’m a football player," he said with a smile.
Besides, it helps his cardio while also giving the offense a little different look.
"Exactly," he said. "I’m not the only one that benefits from it."
MORE STEELERS
2. The Steelers made some news earlier this week when they released inside linebacker Genard Avery among their five roster cuts to get to 80 players. This came after the Steelers had signed him to a one-year, $1.187-million contract in the offseason and had him start opposite T.J. Watt with the No. 1 defense in place of Alex Highsmith in last week's preseason game at Jacksonville. Avery had played both inside and outside linebacker in his career in previous stops with Cleveland and Philadelphia, but he had never been a true 3-4 outside linebacker, which is how the Steelers wanted to use him. And both he and the team agreed after the game against the Jaguars that wrestling offensive tackles wasn't going to be the best use of his talents. So, the Steelers released him. Avery was immediately signed by the Buccaneers. Avery had missed a large chunk of the offseason program and then training camp with injuries, so in the meantime, the Steelers got an opportunity to look at some other players outside, as well. -- Lolley
3. The Steelers claimed Hamilcar Rashed when he was released by the Jets Aug. 11. The next day, he was participating in his first practice with the team. "I got here Wednesday night. I had to do my physical Thursday morning, and I was like, ‘When am I going to get a chance to get some breakfast?’ I had a feeling they were going to throw me out there in practice," Rashed said. "And they did. Thankfully, I got some breakfast." Good thing, too. His practices with the Steelers were more physical than they had been with the Jets. "It was tackle. That’s what surprised me," Rashed said. "Over here it’s tackle. I was surprised. Everywhere else, you wouldn’t tackle." Rashed hit the ground running. He had three tackles two days later in the team's second preseason game at Jacksonville and the Steelers felt good enough about him to release Avery a couple of days after that. -- Lolley
4. Watt and Rashed have a little something in common beyond just being outside linebackers with the Steelers. Watt's outside linebackers coach, Tim Tibesar, was defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at Oregon State when Rashed was there. "We had the same outside linebackers coach in college," Watt said. "Just to be able to translate some things, what we called it in college and what we call it here has been nice," Watt said. "He has a good juice about him. He’s got a good pass rush package, as well. I think he can do some good things for us." Rashed led the country with 22.5 tackles for a loss and was third in the nation with 14 sacks in 2019 at Oregon State, earning second-team All-America honors. Despite that, he went undrafted in 2021 after a sub-par season in a COVID-19 season and spent the entire season on the Jets practice squad. -- Lolley
5. Whether Watt plays in the preseason finale isn't up to him. That decision will be made by Tomlin. And even if he doesn't play, Watt will be ready to go Sept. 11 in Cincinnati. After all, he didn't play in a single preseason game last year while working on a new contract. Heck, he didn't even go through a full practice until a couple of days before the Steelers opened the season at Buffalo. All he did in that game was record a couple of sacks and a forced fumble in the Steelers' upset of the Bills on his way to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. "I’ve done it both ways," he said of playing or not playing in the preseason. "So I’ll just do whatever I’m asked, honestly." But he had to admit last season's approach was just fine. "It worked out," he said. "I felt fresh, so that was a positive." -- Lolley
6. We’ve seen the tight end seam a few times in preseason games, including a dime from Kenny Pickett to Pat Freiermuth in the 16-15 win over the Jaguars. It was also run more often throughout training camp, and Mitch Trubisky hit Zach Gentry with a perfect pass up the seam in practice on Monday. This is no accident. After talking with both Freiermuth and Gentry, there is definitely more emphasis on stretching the middle of the field with the tight ends. That was virtually nonexistent in last year’s offense. The Steelers obviously won’t reveal how much they’ll attack with it in preseason, but it’s definitely in the playbook. “That's something that we can exploit a little bit,” Gentry told me. “Pat and I are big human beings. We've got a little speed to us. I think it's a mismatch when we're able to get found on a linebacker.” -- Chris Halicke on the South Side
7. The receiver room is quite deep. There will be a couple guys who have had really good camps and preseason performances that won’t earn a roster spot. Guys such as Steven Sims and Tyler Vaughns have both done enough to earn a fight to the finish, but there’s not even a guarantee either of them make it. Miles Boykin is another guy who could be a quality receiver near the bottom of the depth chart, but he’s not guaranteed a spot either. I asked him about the balance between being part of a team and fighting for a job. He told me about how much each guy thrives off communication with the rest of the group and how everybody helps each other try to get better. To best sum it up, he said, “I don't think we have any selfish people in our room.” -- Halicke
PIRATES
8. Ben Cherington gave a resounding endorsement to Derek Shelton this week, saying he expects him to return as manager in 2023. Shelton is already under contract for next year, but that alone doesn't give him job security. Simply put, despite the large volume of losses these last three years, he still has the support of the clubhouse, and in on and off-the record conversations throughout the year, the players believe they're heading in the right direction. With that said, 2023 cannot be a repeat of the previous three years. The Pirates can't just have developmental wins and teaching wins. They need to win actual ball games, and a lot more of them. -- Alex Stumpf in Philadelphia
9. To repeat, a lot more wins. Another 100 loss season is very possible this year, as 27 of the Pirates' final 38 games are against teams competing for a playoff spot, and the other 11 are against the Reds and Cubs, who usually play them hard because of the divisional rivalry. At the moment, the Pirates' 47-77 record is the third-worst in baseball. If you're looking for any positive, the three worst teams each get an equal chance at the No. 1 overall draft pick -- 16.5% -- now that the league has adopted a lottery system. Another first overall pick could bring in more talented players not only with that top pick, but in the later round like what we saw with Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler. (More on them below.) -- Stumpf
10. Starting 2023, every team will play each other for at least one three game series each season. It's a cool initiative to make sure that if you are a Pirate fan, you can see Aaron Judge and Shoehi Ohtani every season, even if they are in the other league. It also means the Pirates will need to make one more west coast trip next season, which is difficult. Ke'Bryan Hayes said that the long plane rides this past road trip did not help his back discomfort, which eventually landed him on the injured list. If the injury occurred closer to home, it might have helped him get back on the field sooner. -- Stumpf
11. Josh VanMeter was hitless and made a couple errors in his start Wednesday. He hadn't appeared in a game for a week before that. You can interpret that as he was rusty, or that in a time where the Pirates are trying to find playing opportunities to those they think can be part of the organization moving forward, he didn't play for a week. I don't have anything definitive here. Just trying to connect some dots. -- Stumpf
12. As a team, the Pirates have been throwing more sinkers as a staff as the year has progressed. Wil Crowe has been throwing them all season. He told me one of the first conversations he had this offseason was with his agency's analytics department, who presented him their arguments why he should make it his primary fastball, partially because it helps his changeup and breaking ball. With some input from the Pirates too, Crowe made the switch and has become one of the team's most reliable relievers. -- Stumpf
13. Opponent's batting average against Chase De Jong's four-seam fastball in 2021: .292. Batting average against his four-seamer this year: .143. The bullpen role where he Shelton can pick and choose his spots to use him has worked out about as well as it could have. -- Stumpf
14. One of the reasons the Pirates promoted Travis Swaggerty for a cup of coffee in the majors back in June was to give him a taste of the majors. I asked him if he took anything away from the cameo, and honestly, it wasn't much. “It was cool, but I don’t think I was there long enough to take anything major,” Swaggerty told me. “That’s not a knock, that’s just what it is.” -- Stumpf
15. Bradenton Marauders manager Jonathan Johnston to me on the aforementioned Solometo: "Anthony is going to be really good because, No. 1, he's humble and he understands he just needs to keep working he's done playing. And [No.2] he makes changes and adjustments pretty immediately. It's pretty impressive to see a guy his age be able to go out and correct things, make adjustments, on the spot, basically." -- Stumpf
16. Johnston on his other prized pitcher from last year's draft class, Chandler: "I think he's getting used to how much work he has to put in with the bat because it's a different game [than high school]. Work needs to be done. Same thing on the mound. Maybe it seems a little less urgent because he throws 97, 98 [mph], so anybody has a hard time catching up with that, but he's learning how to pitch. He's learning how to control the running game a little bit better. He's learning all the things to know how to be a pitcher and how to be a hitter." -- Stumpf
PENGUINS
17. Evgeni Malkin came back in the U.S. without issue and is currently training in Miami while his wife Anna and son Nikita both remain in Russia. Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov was twice denied entry into the U.S. before finally being allowed to enter the country due to work visa issues. Malkin, being a dual citizen with the U.S. and Russia, didn't have such barriers. -- Taylor Haase at PPG Paints Arena
18. Last week I spoke with David Manning, the head coach of Penguins sixth-round pick Luke Devlin at St. Andrews College last year, to get his thoughts on what Devlin needs to do as he transitions to his first season of junior. This week Devlin told me he has been training on and off the ice with the Gary Roberts High Performance program in addition to skating with Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos. He’s looking forward to joining a winning program such as the West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL), and hopes to make an impact in the community throughout the season. -- Danny Shirey at PPG Paints Arena
19. It’s hard to ignore the one-year, $1.5 million contract Paul Stastny signed with the Hurricanes earlier this week. Turning 37 in December, Stastny remains a more than serviceable third-line center with impacts that rank in the top quarter of league forwards at both ends of the ice. His point production rates are above average, too. Ignoring the premature two-year extension Jeff Carter inked at a cap hit of $3.125 million back in Jan., Stastny’s contract begs the question: What about Josh Archibald enticed Ron Hextall to sign him to a contract on the first day of free agency? Had Hextall not jumped at a player who projects to be replacement level next season, he might’ve been able to bring in Stastny for just a bit more money. His presence would’ve shored up the Penguins’ center depth and potentially created a path for Carter to shift to the wing. -- Shirey
20. At the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, the Penguins will gain $19,563,333 in cap space between unrestricted and restricted free agents coming off the books. The biggest names include Jason Zucker, Brian Dumoulin and Tristan Jarry. The Penguins will need to fill eight vacancies between skaters and a ninth vacancy in goal. If Jarry turns in a stellar campaign, Hextall will find himself in quite the predicament. All of this is yet another sign pointing to this coming season being the season the Penguins take one last earnest quest for the Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby era. -- Shirey
21. Jarry is spending the summer training and skating with Flyers goaltender Carter Hart in Hart's hometown just outside of Edmonton, Alberta. Though Jarry is from Surrey, British Columbia, he's known Hart since he was playing junior hockey for the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2013. The two work with goaltending coach Dustin Schwartz, who was the Oil Kings' goaltending coach during Jarry's time there and is currently the goaltending coach for the Oilers. -- Haase