Steelers' Fitzpatrick: 'Now it's my duty' to perform after inking record deal
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick knows what the record extension the Pittsburgh Steelers gave him Wednesday means for the franchise, and he's ready to embrace that expectation.
"The money is a blessing, the money creates opportunity for everyone around us and in our families, but it's more what they're saying with the money," Fitzpatrick said Thursday, according to ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "They're trusting you to be the best and prepare to be the best and compete against the best and play A-plus-plus on a consistent basis."
He added, "It's more of that, that I'm trying to hold myself to, rather than say, 'I got paid, so now I've got to play well.' It's no, these guys trust me with this amount of money, this amount of responsibility, so now it's my duty to go out there and play at a high level and show them that I deserve this compensation."
Fitzpatrick became the highest-paid safety in NFL history after inking a four-year deal worth over $18.4 million annually. The 25-year-old, who's earned two All-Pro nods since joining Pittsburgh in 2019, is signed with the club through the 2026 season.
"I'm one of the best at what I do," he said, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "So obviously, you would like to be paid in that way and represented in that way. In a week from now or a year from now, somebody's obviously gonna pass it up, but you always want to raise the bar for the guys behind you, want to raise the bar for the people in our locker room."
The Steelers rewarded linebacker T.J. Watt with a four-year extension worth more than $112 million last year. They're now one of just five teams with multiple defenders who currently own an average annual salary of at least $18 million, according to ESPN.
"The thing I appreciate most about this organization is its commitment to winning," Fitzpatrick said.
"It could've been a season where we lost our starting quarterback, legendary Hall of Fame quarterback, it could've been a season where they just tanked and decided to call it quits. But they went out and acquired me and acquired a few other guys and said we're going to do what we've got to do to win games."
Watt, Fitzpatrick, and Co. have some work to do in 2022. The Steelers' defense ranked in the top five in both yards and points allowed in 2019 and 2020 but placed 24th and 20th in those categories last year, respectively.