Is Jets’ Minkah Fitzpatrick still a star safety?

The New York Jets jumped the free agency gun with a blockbuster trade, acquiring five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick from the Miami Dolphins for a 2026 seventh-round pick.

Not only that, but New York signed Fitzpatrick to a three-year, $40 million contract.

Fitzpatrick is a household name for NFL fans. He is a three-time first-team All-Pro and has the fifth-most career takeaways (28) among active safeties.

However, Fitzpatrick recorded 24 of those 28 takeaways through the 2022 season. The Alabama product is entering his ninth NFL season and will turn 30 years old in November.

It all begs the question: Is Fitzpatrick still a star safety in the NFL? Or is his star power based on the accomplishments of yesteryear?

Rest assured, Jets fans—despite his age, Fitzpatrick remains one of the best safeties in the world.

Minkah Fitzpatrick can still play

It is fair to point out that Fitzpatrick’s takeaway production has declined.

After notching 19 interceptions through his first five NFL seasons, he has just two over the last three seasons. This may indicate that Fitzpatrick has lost a half-step when it comes to breaking on the ball for picks.

However, that’s the only area where Fitzpatrick has trended down. In 2025, he remained one of the league’s best safeties in just about every other area.

Across 14 games this past season, Fitzpatrick earned an 81.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking sixth-best among the 67 safeties to play at least 500 defensive snaps.

Fitzpatrick placed 13th as a run defender (79.6 grade), eighth in coverage (78.3 grade), and 11th as a pass rusher (77.1 grade). The only other safety with a 77.0+ grade in all three of those categories was Kyle Hamilton.

Not to mention, the interception number is a bit misleading. While Fitzpatrick officially had one interception in 2025, he also picked off a two-point attempt and took it the distance. Toss in two recovered fumbles and a strip-sack that Miami recovered, and Fitzpatrick really took the ball away five times… more than the Jets’ entire defense (4).

Fitzpatrick is still an elite safety in every sense of the term. Let’s break down his 2025 performance in each area of the position.

Coverage

One of the best aspects of Fitzpatrick’s game was his exceptional ability to avoid getting beaten over the top. Across 459 snaps in coverage, Fitzpatrick yielded just 89 air yards on completions into his coverage. His average of 0.194 completed air yards per coverage snap ranked ninth-best among safeties.

This is thanks to Fitzpatrick’s phenomenal man coverage. Although he may not get as many interceptions as he used to, he still contests passes as well as anyone at his position.

In 2025, Fitzpatrick racked up a forced incompletion rate of 38.5% in man coverage, placing second-best among safeties with at least 10 man coverage targets, trailing only Talanoa Hufanga. Of the 13 man-coverage targets thrown Fitzpatrick’s way, five resulted in Fitzpatrick breaking up the pass.

Always known for his versatility, Fitzpatrick still discovered new ways to be effective in his eighth NFL season. Miami deployed him in the slot on a career-high 345 snaps, more than double his previous career-high, and Fitzpatrick excelled in the role.

Across 200 snaps in slot coverage, Fitzpatrick allowed just 145 yards. His average of 0.73 yards allowed per slot coverage snap ranked fourth-best among the 21 safeties with at least 100 snaps in slot coverage.

It is also worth noting that, while Fitzpatrick officially had just one interception in 2025, he added a “pick-two” against the Saints.

Run defense

Fitzpatrick did not make many plays near the line of scrimmage as a run defender in 2025, as he placed 68th at the position with five run stops. That’s a product of his usage; he lined up in the box on just 27.1% of his snaps.

However, Fitzpatrick added value in this phase as a last line of defense. His 37 tackles in the run game occurred at an average depth of 13.7 yards downfield, deepest in the NFL among qualified safeties.

The fact that he earned an impressive 79.6 run defense grade while typically making his tackles well beyond the first down marker shows that he was consistently recording quality open-field stops to prevent chunk gains from turning into home runs.

In 2025, the Jets allowed 39 rushes for 10+ yards, the second-most in football, so they will benefit immensely from adding a safety who can keep those runs from turning into 50+ yard touchdowns once they break into the open field.

Pass rush

A career-high workload in the slot was not the only uncharted territory for Fitzpatrick in 2025. Miami also used him as a blitzer more than he had ever been used before.

Fitzpatrick rushed the passer on a career-high 29 snaps in 2025, nearly tripling his previous career average of 10 per season. He made the most of those opportunities, racking up six total pressures (one sack, one hit, four hurries).

Synopsis

Some critics might argue the Jets just gave a three-year, $40 million deal to a has-been safety based on name recognition. After all, he will be 30 this season and has not recorded more than one interception.

It’s a reasonable take… if you prefer analyzing football players by Googling their box-score stats.

Those who believe Fitzpatrick has fallen off did not pay attention to him last season.

A glance at Fitzpatrick’s interception total could not be more misleading. Not only does it ignore his overall takeaway production (five total when accounting for all varieties), but it also neglects the elite impact he made in many other areas of the position.

Fitzpatrick remains an elite man-coverage safety and an excellent last line of defense against the run. He also unlocked new abilities as a blitzer and slot defender in 2025, expanding a bag of tricks that was already extremely deep.

A star safety from the day he set foot on an NFL field in 2018, not much has changed yet for Fitzpatrick. He enters 2026 with an elite eight-year body of work.

The question, of course, is whether Fitzpatrick will continue to play at this level in 2026 and beyond. While he thrived last season, he could smack into a wall at age 30 or 31, as many defensive backs do. Jets fans don’t have to be reminded of what happened to Darrelle Revis around that age.

There is a certain degree of risk associated with Fitzpatrick because of his age. However, considering that he was still the class of the safety position last season, the Jets should expect him to have at least another year or two of high-level play in him.

Not to mention, it’s not as if the Jets’ investment in Fitzpatrick demands continued elite play. They traded a seventh-round pick for him, while his $13.3 million salary currently ranks 13th among safeties and will likely drop at least two or three spots after the free agency spending spree is complete. So, even if Fitzpatrick is merely “good,” the Jets will get what they paid for.

And Fitzpatrick was so great in 2025 that he would still be “good” even with a significant step back.

This acquisition is a home run from a value perspective. Due to age and a perceived dwindling impact through a box-score lens, the Jets stole a star player at a position of need for less than he is truly worth.