Pittsburgh Steelers signed Minkah Fitzpatrick in a trade deal from the Miami Dolphins by giving them a future first-round pick in exchange. Although the deal is good and Fitzpatrick will add a lot to the Steelers defensive line, but the timing doesn’t make any sense. Ben Roethlisberger, the lead quarterback of Steelers was injured in the Week 2 game and they needed someone in their offense at that point.
TRADE: Steelers are trading a 2020 first-round pick to the Dolphins for DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 17, 2019
NFL 2020 drafts are going to be important for teams like Steelers and Dolphins which are poorly performing in 2019 season. In such a situation, the Steelers signing a deal with cornerback Fitzpatrick would totally destroy their 2020 draft picks.
Steelers needs a Quarterback, Not Cornerback
The Steelers are currently lagging 0-2 in the NFL season and their offense is very bad as they just scored 3 points in the Week 1 game against the Patriots. While they were almost about to win in the Week 2 game against the Seahawks, it still ended in disappointment as they lost at 28-26. It is what concerns the Steelers right now, the biggest trouble is Big Ben (Ben Roethlisberger) getting injured.
Unless Minkah Fitzpatrick is moving to quarterback this is a strange move by the Steelers.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) September 17, 2019
The team would now open with Mason Rudolph and honestly, he doesn’t have that good stats as a starting QB. There were a few names like Colin Kapernick in the market as free agents who would have been great, instead of getting a cornerback in form of Fitzpatrick.
Impact on NFL 2020 Draft Picks
Pittsburgh Steelers should have planned for the future where they would get new rookie players and rebuild their team. NFL 2020 draft picks will play a huge part in deciding the team strengths for the next year. The Steelers will perform worse anyway in this season and it means their draft ranking will increase.
Dolphins wanted a 1 for Minkah Fitzpatrick and they get it from the 0-2 Steelers, who are now rolling the dice on Mason Rudolph.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 17, 2019
But it would only benefit the Miami Dolphins as the 2020 pick now belongs to them. Fitzpatrick is good but the Steelers could have gotten way better quarterback or cornerback in 2020 NFL draft picks. The Steelers are now with an injured QB, broken defense and no future picks for next year.
