Earlier this offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers and S Minkah Fitzpatrick reached an agreement on a four-year extension to make him the highest-paid safety in football. Once the inked had dried and the numbers became official, Fitzpatrick signed a deal to make him earn $72.988 million in new money with a new money average, $18.247 million, besting former top-paid safety Jamal Adams for first place at the position.
However, it appears that Fitzpatrick’s reign at the top of the safety earnings peak will be short lived.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Los Angeles Chargers plan to reach an agreement with their star S Derwin James at some point prior to the start of the regular season with the “expectation” that he will surpass Fitzpatrick as the highest-paid safety in NFL history.