The Steelers Have Reportedly Restructured Minkah Fitzpatrick's Contract Clearing Cap Space

The Pittsburgh Steelers are playing the chess game that all NFL teams play in March, adjusting player's contracts to ensure they have enough cap space to pay for free agents and rookies for the next season. Superstar safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was an obvious choice for restructuring. 

Fitzpatrick has become an indispensable part of the Steelers' emerging defense, but talent comes with a price. According to Spotrac, Fitzpatrick was due to earn a base salary of $14,500,000 from 2023 through 2026. He signed a huge four-year $72.98 million extension last offseason, which made him the highest-paid safety in the NFL. That carries with it a cap hit of $18,000,000 and a dead cap value of $28,500,000.

Fitzpatrick has shown that he is worth every cent, making a tremendous difference when he is on the field. During his five-year career in Pittsburgh, he has racked up 448 tackles, 295 of which were solo ones, 47 pass deflections, 19 interceptions, 4 forced fumbles, and 5 fumble recoveries. 

Steelers Restructure Fitzpatrick To Free Cap Space

The Steelers went into the legal tampering period, which began on Monday about $10 million under the cap. However, they have signed some free agents and re-signed a few current players during this week and they would likely be over the cap limit by the time they let the ink dry. The particulars of some of those contracts have not been released yet. There have been rumors all offseason that several players are obvious candidates for restructuring and Fitzpatrick with his large multi-year deal was one of them. 

This isn't unusual, much of what happens for GM's during the offseason is a game of shuffling numbers around so that players feel they are properly compensated, while building a team that has a chance to win a championship.

Now there are reports from Over The Cap that Fitzpatrick's contract has been restructured as expected. Per OTC, his new contract maximizes the ability the team had to adjust his contract with all but $1.08 million left, and the other $13.42 million has been turned into a signing bonus. The $1.08 million is the league minimum for a player with the tenure that Fitzpatrick has. 

This leaves Pittsburgh with some much-needed breathing room, saving them about $10.065 against their 2023 cap number. Of course, adjusting contracts is a bit like "robbing Peter to pay Paul" as the money always becomes due eventually. This offloads $3.355 million a year into the next three years of his contract. That leaves the Steelers with a salary cap hit of just over $21 million in 2024, just over $22 million in 2025, and about $24.5 million in 2026. 

What do you think of the Steelers restructuring Fitzpatrick? Is the new deal about what you expected? How do you think Pittsburgh is doing thus far in free agency? Click to comment below.

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