Steelers-Dolphins trade grades: Pittsburgh wins big as Jalen Ramsey, Minkah Fitzpatrick swap places

Jalen Ramsey will be playing for a fourth team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, for the 2025 season. The Steelers acquired the 7-time Pro Bowl cornerback and 3-time first-team all-Pro from the Miami Dolphins in a rare NFL summer blockbuster trade on Monday.

While the Dolphins pick up the pieces elsehwere in the secondary by reacquiring safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in the deal, the Steelers got a missing piece for their pressure defense. Per multiple reports, Ramsey also gets a raise, bumping up $1.6 million to earn $26.6 million in '25.

The Steelers had already had added aging Darius Slay, the former Eagle and Lion to the secondary. Ramsey is a much bigger pickup, however, a much-needed raise in the level of playmaking. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, will help the Dolphins recover from losing Jevon Holland (to the Giants) in free agency.

Here's breaking down both sides of the trade:

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Steelers-Dolphins trade grades

Steelers receive:

• CB Jalen Ramsey
• TE Jonnu Smith
• 2027 seventh-round draft pick

Dolphins receive:

• S Minkah Fitzpatrick
• 2027 fifth-round draft pick

Steelers: A+

The Steelers now have Slay, the former Eagle, and Ramsey, the former Ram — a pair of Super Bowl champions — to provide a ton of winning and ballhawking experience to support still developing 2023 second-round draft pick Joey Porter. Losing Fitzpatrick hurts, but Pittsburgh can compensate in inside downfield coverage with young nickel Beanie Bishop and remaining starting safety DeShon Elliott.

Having Slay, Ramsey and Porter together also gives them a different kind of versatility and depth while getting strong against wide receivers on the outside. Ramsey is 30 and will turn 31 in October, but he still played at a high level last season. Meanwhile, the Steelers could sense that Fitzpatrick was fading at 28, not the same active defender when they first aquired him from the Dolphins in 2019.

The Steelers also came up with a stronger answer to the rival Ravens, who added 2-time Packers Pro Bowler Jaire Alexander in mid June.

As for tight Jonnu Smith, who had a career-high 88 catches for 884 yards and 8 TDs with the Dolphins, he reunites with his former Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who holds that same position with the Steelers. He gives them more of a receiving threat to complement Pat Freiermuth so he can employ more effective 12 personnel sets (two tight ends) to support QB Aaron Rodgers.

MORE: Steelers timeline of starting QBs since Ben Roethlisberger

Dolphins: C

The Dolphins get back Fitzpatrick, whom they took No. 11 overall in the 2018 draft. Fitzpatrick gives them more range and interception potential in pass coverage than Holland did with about the same impact supporting vs. the run.

But after seeing one-time first-team All-Pro Xavien Howard end his career after the 2023 season and now moving on from Ramsey, the the Dolphins have gone from having one of the NFL's best cornerback situations to the absolute worst. Fitzpatrick replaces Holland, but he does little to upgrade the secondary overall with Ramsey going out the door.

Jonnu Smith was a short-area receiving necessity for QB Tua Tagovailoa last season after Mike McDaniel compressed the passing game. The Dolphins were OK moving on from Smith to help re-commit to pushing the ball downfield again to wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. They will hope a different former Titan, wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, can replace Smith well as a third target.

Ramsey was getting expensive as he was getting older and the Dolphins needed to remove from the books, with Fitzpatrick providing some monetary and positional relief. But overall, the Steelers, as a playoff team trying to becoming a better AFC title contender, crushed the trade. The Dolphins, as a team trying to return to the AFC playoffs, however, just got pushed further from that goal.