The Steelers have two decisions to make on fifth-year options at safety before May 3.
Both Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds are due their options as being first round picks from the 2018 NFL Draft. When the salary cap was set at $182 million for the 2021 season, their option contract numbers were set as well. Fitzpatrick was set at $10.6 million, while Edmunds at $6.7 million.
Picking up Fitzpatrick's decision is a no-brainer after making First Team All-Pro in the NFL in both his seasons with the Steelers. Of safeties who played at least 365 snaps (half of the most snaps played by an NFL safety) in 2020, Fitzpatrick's 38.9 completion percentage allowed was the lowest in the NFL.
But Edmunds wasn't too far behind with a completion percentage of 56, which was eight-best among NFL safeties with 365 snaps. He hasn't had the stellar start to his career that Fitzpatrick had, but he's still a very valuable piece of the puzzle that makes the Steelers' defense. The challenge with fifth-year options with the new CBA is that they're fully guaranteed, making them more costly.
Fitzpatrick's best asset is as a center-fielding safety, but that needs solid coverage underneath him in a defense to be truly effective.
While Joe Haden, Cam Sutton and Devin Bush are part of that, so is Edmunds. His 6-foot-1, 217 lbs. frame allows him to matchup with the taller offensive weapons while his speed and quickness in space lets him keep up with the quicker and smaller targets in underneath coverage.
The biggest concerns from his first two seasons were whether he could improve his ball skills as he only had one interception and seven pass breakups during those seasons.
But in 2020, he nabbed two interceptions along with eight breakups, showing the progress needed in a consistent starting safety. His trajectory is pointing up, and pairing him with Edmunds for years could make them one of the best, if not the outright best, safety pairs in the NFL.
YOUR TURN: Should the Steelers lock in Edmunds' fifth-year option?
