On Monday morning, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins shocked the NFL world with a rare summer blockbuster trade. Former Dolphins CB Jalen Ramsey heads to Pittsburgh alongside TE Jonnu Smith and a 2027 seventh-round pick in exchange for S Minkah Fitzpatrick and a 2027 fifth-rounder.
If that wasn’t enough, the Dolphins kept the party going on Tuesday morning, trading for formerly-retired Giants TE Darren Waller to replace Smith. Miami is sending New York a 2026 sixth-rounder for Waller and a conditional 2027 seventh. It’s a wild AFC shake-up that rarely happens in late June and early July.
Ramsey has been on the trade block for some time, with both he and the Dolphins releasing statements before the draft that signalled the end of his time in Miami. He was frequently connected to the Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring in 2022, but the finances were a major sticking point. Los Angeles was interested in a reunion with Ramsey, but they wanted Miami to pay a significant chunk of his salary in 2025. In more recent weeks, the Steelers emerged as a contender for Ramsey, though his base salary remained a contentious issue.
To that point, the Dolphins are paying $3 million of Ramsey’s salary to facilitate the trade, in addition to the $4 million roster bonus they already paid at the beginning of the league year. That leaves $19.6 million in salary on the books for the Steelers, including a $1.5 million raise they gave him as part of the deal.
For Smith, it’s a reunion with Steelers OC Arthur Smith, who is a big fan of the veteran tight end dating back to their shared time with the Titans and Falcons. Smith received a one-year, $12 million extension with the Steelers, putting him under contract for two years and giving the Steelers another weapon for newly signed QB Aaron Rodgers. They got their guy in Smith.
For Fitzpatrick, it’s a homecoming. He spent the first year-plus of his career in Miami before heading to Pittsburgh in a trade early in the 2019 season. He’s been one of the stars of the Steelers defense ever since, and now he’ll get to fortify a struggling Dolphins unit. Of course, trading Smith left a hole at tight end in Miami, and that’s where Waller comes in. He retired with the Giants last summer after an injury-riddled stint in New York, but will now attempt to revitalize his career in a much friendlier offensive environment.
Miami Dolphins: A-
This trade is a coup for the Dolphins in more ways than one. Let’s start with the obvious: Fitzpatrick is a stud. Over the last three seasons, he’s had 256 tackles and seven interceptions with PFF grades of 84.1, 74.1 and 65.2, respectively. He’s been one of the best safeties in the league over that span and consistently one of the best players on the Steelers’ defense. Getting him in return for Ramsey is an incredible deal.
We’ll dive more into Ramsey in the Dolphins section, but Fitzpatrick is two years younger, cheaper and similarly productive at this stage of their careers. Financially, the Dolphins are saving about $8 million on the cap through these moves. Shedding Ramsey’s salary was the primary reason the Dolphins wanted to move him, and they effectively did so here. Ramsey won’t be on their books anymore after this season.
It really can’t be stressed enough how shocking this return is. Yes, the Dolphins gave up Smith as well, but Ramsey wasn’t expected to command top assets, especially on his current contract. The expectation pre-draft was that he could net a third-round pick if Miami was willing to eat a major chunk of his base salary. Things got murkier entering the summer, but no one thought Miami would get one of the top safeties in the league through this deal.
On the field, Miami probably got better, too. Safety was a major weak spot on this roster, and Fitzpatrick will be a huge upgrade over the other options at strong safety. Losing Ramsey now makes cornerback a similarly weak area, but Miami has more options than at safety. 2024 UDFA Storm Duck played relatively well as a rookie, and if the Dolphins feel 2023 second-rounder Cam Smith is ready for a starting role, they just cleared one for him.
On the tight end front, flipping Smith for a positive asset in Fitzpatrick makes a ton of sense. Smith had a great year for the Dolphins in 2024, but he’s mostly been a TE2 throughout his career. Miami clearly didn’t want to sign him to an extension, and while letting him play out this season and netting a compensatory pick when he left in free agency next year would have made sense, this method is better.
Plus, they followed up their initial trade with a low-risk move to acquire Waller from the Giants. Once one of the best tight ends in the game during his prime with the Raiders, Waller never really found his footing in New York thanks to a combination of injuries and poor offensive play. It remains to be seen if he can replicate his glory days in Miami, but he gives the Dolphins a high-ceiling option in their offense.
All in all, this was a great bit of business by Miami. I’m still not sure what the plan is long-term with this team, as they seem to be resetting in some ways while holding onto their older, expensive veterans. Additionally, Fitzpatrick didn’t have a great year in 2024, not by his standards anyway. There is a bit of risk that he doesn’t rebound, and if so, this trade won’t look so wonderful in hindsight. Still, they were always planning on moving off the Ramsey contract, and the chance that Fitzpatrick isn’t a quality player moving forward is small.
Pittsburgh Steelers: C-
This is a weird one. Two days later and I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one. What were the Steelers thinking? On its face, this doesn’t make the team better. Ramsey isn’t as good a player right now as Fitzpatrick, and Smith isn’t the cleanest fit in the offense.
Let’s start where it seems the Steelers did: Smith. Pittsburgh has been trying to deal for him for a while now, pretty much as soon as they traded away WR George Pickens to the Cowboys. There was a time when it seemed like they might be close to a deal, then talks cooled for a while. Or at least, from the outside, they seemed to.
After acquiring WR D.K. Metcalf from the Seahawks and sending Pickens to Dallas, the Steelers were focused on adding another weapon to this offense. That makes sense, as they had Metcalf, TE Pat Freiermuth and WR Calvin Austin III as their top options in the passing game. Austin is more of a slot/gadget weapon and No. 3 receiver, so No. 2 receiver seemed like the natural hole. Still, for some reason, the Steelers were intent on acquiring Smith.
As I said in the opening, Smith will reunite with Steelers OC Arthur Smith from their time in Tennessee and Atlanta. The veteran tight end had his best season before last year under Smith in 2023 with 50 catches for 582 yards and three touchdowns in a tandem with Falcons TE Kyle Pitts. Those are solid numbers, but hardly the kind of player you go out of your way to make sure you get in the building. Jonnu Smith truly broke out last year with the Dolphins in Miami HC Mike McDaniel’s more open, fast-paced system. Arthur Smith runs a famously slow, run-heavy scheme that emphasizes downhill running and short, sideline throws. That’s not the system that’ll play to Jonnu Smith’s strengths.
Additionally, the depth chart at tight end just got crowded. Freiermuth is still around, and he’s been a quality starter for this team. Darnell Washington is an elite blocking tight end, and though he doesn’t offer a ton of upside in the receiving game, you want him on the field for his blocking prowess. Smith runs a lot of 12-personnel with two tight ends on the field, and will likely employ plenty of three-tight end looks now. But swinging for Jonnu Smith was an odd choice.
When focusing on Fitzpatrick and Ramsey, this deal almost makes less sense. Ramsey’s two seasons with the Rams in 2021 and 2022 were elite, but over the last two years, he’s been a nearly identical player to Fitzpatrick. In 2023, he had a 65.6 PFF grade and last year that became a 77.0 grade. Combined, he has 82 tackles and five interceptions in the last two seasons. Those are remarkably similar numbers to the ones Fitzpatrick has put up.
When you take a step back, though, it doesn’t add up. Fitzpatrick is younger, cheaper and a beloved locker room presence. He’s been a mainstay on the defense for years. Ramsey’s best days are likely behind him, not ahead of him, and Fitzpatrick is still in the prime of his career. That alone makes me question what the Steelers were thinking.
This move might make the Steelers’ starting five in the secondary a little stronger since cornerback is a more valuable position than safety, but it sabotages their depth. Juan Thornhill will step into Fitzpatrick’s role at safety, while Ramsey’s addition pushes last year’s starting slot CB Beanie Bishop Jr. to the bench. Thornhill had some good years in Kansas City and should combine with DeShon Elliott to form a solid, if unspectacular, duo at safety. Ramsey, meanwhile, will take over as the primary slot corner, a position he’s played more frequently in recent years. He’ll be flanked by Darius Slay and Joey Porter Jr. on the outside.
Bishop and Cory Trice Jr. make for a good pair of bench corners to have in case of injury, but safety is suddenly thin for Pittsburgh. Miles Killebrew and Quindell Johnson are the backup safeties, and you don’t want either playing meaningful snaps if you’re the Steelers. Bishop proved to be a solid slot corner as a rookie last year, and Trice has performed well in limited opportunities. Swapping Fitzpatrick for Ramsey just doesn’t make the team meaningfully better in the short term, which would be the rationale for this trade.
The spin zone here would be that the team is going all-in for Rodgers in the one year they’ll have him, but even that doesn’t exactly hold up, as I’ve outlined. There were better ways to improve the offense and alternatives to giving up one of your best defensive players.
Still, the Steelers got another offensive piece and got a new veteran in the secondary. There are worse trades they could have made.
Giants: A
It’s not clear what the condition is on the seventh-round pick the Giants are sending back in the swap with Waller. But regardless, this trade is a win. New York took a player languishing on the retired list who’d long been forgotten as a relevant piece to the plan and turned him into a tangible asset.
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