Steelers Insider with Strong Comments on the Summer Trade with Dolphins

Revisiting the blockbuster trade involving Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith

Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Jonnu Smith (81) runs the ball during the second half against the Indianapolis Colts at Acrisure Stadium. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins’ next test in this 2025 season will come against a Pittsburgh Steelers that’s been uneven, but still leads the AFC North with four games left.

But Pittsburgh isn’t leading its division because of the headline-making trade involving the Dolphins this summer, the one that sent cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith to the Steelers and had Minkah Fitzpatrick returning to Miami along with a swap of third-day draft picks.

On the contrary, this is a trade that’s worked out much better for the Dolphins than for the Steelers.

We’ve established the argument for the Dolphins before, but don’t take our word for it when it comes to the Steelers side of it.

On an episode of the All Dolphins Podcast this week, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI publisher Noah Strackbein also made it clear Miami got the better of the trade.

STRONG COMMENTS ABOUT JALEN AND JONNU

Ramsey has been playing safety of late for the Steelers after injuries hit the position, including a season-ending knee injury to another former Dolphins player, DeShon Elliott.

Ramsey’s performance has been decent, but certainly not what the Steelers might have envisioned from the seven-time Pro Bowl selection.

 “I'll say on the field, the Jalen Ramsey experience has been very hit or miss,” Strackbein said. “And he's a name that if he was less expensive, you don't even have the conversation that we're going to have … (but with) how much he's going to cost you in 2026 like he might be a one-and-done in Pittsburgh because it's going to be unless things like unless they make the playoffs and look good on their way to the playoffs and win a playoff game or come close to it like there's going to be so much change for the Steelers this offseason and I just think that at 30 years old making $25, $27 million a year, you can't justify it.

“He's only going to play safety for the remainder of the season. He's played well, but again, like for making as much money as you're making, there's really like no impact to be had in the game. There's no big moments of Jalen Ramsey anymore. And when he was making them at the beginning of the season, it was like one play is an interception, the next is a touchdown, you know? And there's too much back and forth. Now there's just nothing at all.”

Smith, meanwhile, has seen his production take a dramatic dive in 2025.

After setting career highs with 88 catches for 884 yards last season, Smith has a paltry 30 receptions in 13 games for only 190 yards.

So the question is whether is poor performance, lack of opportunities or game plans that led to this slide.

“I think all of the above,” Strackbein said. “So at the beginning of the year, the issue with Jonnu was that he was only allowed to run 3 yards straight up the middle, vertical seems. Like that's all it was. It was how quickly can we snap the ball and then throw it to Jonnu in the middle of three linebackers that faded. And they expanded Jonnu's route tree and his usage. And then he started making mistakes and he was never open. … The Jonnu experiment has been so crazy to me. It's such a failure for the Steelers. And I like Jonnu, like, I think Jonnu was a good player that if you put him in the right system — Miami was a great example —he could have some success. He could be a reliable starting tight end in the NFL, but the Steelers brought him in and then immediately just started saying like, oh, he's wide receiver 2. He's an oversized athlete. That's what Jonnu Smith is. Yeah, but he doesn't play like it. He doesn't run outside vertical routes. He works in the middle of the field and is great at finding holes in the zone sometimes, but sometimes he just sits there and lets himself get covered. There's been nothing about Jonnu's game so far in Pittsburgh that has shown me like playmaker at all. To be really honest with you, he shouldn't even be on the field. And again, I think he's talented, but the Steelers have two tight ends (Pat Freiermurth, Darnell Washington) that are significantly better than him.”

The final piece of the puzzle, of course, is Fitzpatrick, who came to Miami after two seasons that perhaps weren’t up to his standards but has performed very, very well for the Dolphins.

And given the struggles of the Steelers defense in 2025, it’s clear they’ve missed him.

“Yeah, the Minkah thing to me is so overlooked in Pittsburgh,” Strackbein said. “I don't think Minkah like comes in here and saves this defense, but I don't think Minkah was the problem.

“In terms of who won that trade, the Dolphins won that trade with ease. The Dolphins won that trade.”