The Jets are trading a seventh-round pick to the Dolphins for S Minkah Fitzpatrick. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the team has also agreed to a new three-year, $40 million pact with the veteran DB. Fitzpatrick spent 2025 back with Miami after arriving via trade from the Steelers. He opened his career with the Dolphins before a 2019 trade sent him north.
Fitzpatrick once ranked among the league's top ballhawks. He intercepted 4+ passes in four of five seasons starting in 2019, including a league-high six picks in 2022. But the safety has tallied just 2 total INTs across the past three years. Fitzpatrick also lost multiple games to injury in two of those three campaigns.
At the least, his veteran presence should help a New York secondary that jettisoned lead CB Sauce Gardner last fall. But the salary commitment doesn't make much sense given the Jets' rebuild status.
Fitzpatrick will turn 30 this November and looks like an iffy bet -- at best -- to complete his new contract. The annual average, meanwhile, slots in 15th among safeties in that category.
Fantasy wise, Fitzpatrick should remain fine for at least 2026 -- though the disappearance of his big plays in recent years drains most of his IDP appeal.
Expect the vet to settle in as a low-DB2 to DB3 level draft consideration.
Fitzpatrick spent more time at slot CB last season (according to Pro Football Focus) than in any other year since his 2018 rookie campaign. He spent most of his time in deep coverage before leaving Pittsburgh.
Fitzpatrick also earned the second-best PFF coverage grade of his career last season.
If the Jets view the veteran as a regular slot defender and part-time safety, then his contract gets a bit easier to justify. That $13.3 million per year would tie Fitzpatrick with Bears slot CB Kyler Gordon for 22nd among corners in annual average as of this writing.
That alignment would also help Fitzpatrick's fantasy-scoring chances vs. staying primarily in deep coverage.
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