PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

If it’s context you seek regarding what the Steelers acquired in their trades this week, look no further than the regular season finale between the Dolphins and the Jets in January.

In that contest on Jan. 5 at MetLife Stadium, Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey followed wide receiver Garrett Wilson all over the field.

Ramsey didn’t cover Wilson on every snap of what became a 32-20 Jets victory, but the Dolphins sought out that matchup most of the time. Wide left, wide right, in the slot, it was me and my shadow. And oftentimes they asked Ramsey to execute press coverage at the line of scrimmage in providing that shadow.

Wilson finished the season with 1,104 receiving yards, approximately 40 of which were gained when Ramsey was on the case in the season finale.

Ramsey will turn 31 in October, but he’s a three-time First-Team Associated Press All-Pro and a former Super Bowl champion who can still handle the toughest assignments on the corner.

The Steelers are better at cornerback for having landed Ramsey.

As for the other player they received in what will be remembered in Steelers’ lore as “The Minkah Fitzpatrick Trade,” Jonnu Smith is a tight end in designation only. Against the Jets he lined up in the slot, wide left, wide right; rarely did he have his hand on the ground at the snap, and even then it was a safe bet he’d execute a chip and still run a route rather than attempt to work in tandem with an offensive tackle on a double-team.

Smith is coming off a career year in Miami (88 catches, 884 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns) that included nine catches on 12 targets for 56 yards and a TD with Tyler Huntley trying to play quarterback against the Jets in January.

Put “TE” next to his name on the roster if you must, but Smith (6-foot-3, 248 pounds) is much more a bigger version of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (6-foot-1, 215) than a smaller complement to tight end Pat Freiermuth (6-foot-5, 258).

Smith doesn’t solve the lack of established depth at wide receiver behind DK Metcalf, but that’s less of a problem today than it was before Smith was brought on board.

The defense is in transition minus Fitzpatrick, a three-time First-Team AP All-Pro who was a turnover machine until he stopped producing turnovers. Much of that had to do with the Steelers’ decisions in recent seasons to deploy him as either a deep centerfielder positioned to deter offenses from trying to take the top off the defense, or down near the line of scrimmage when the Steelers were periodically in the process of forgetting how to stop the run.

How the safety position shakes down in his absence remains to be seen.

They’ve gotten arguably worse there. But the argument could and should also be made that this was a defense in need of a shakeup in the wake of the no-show collapse against the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs. The Steelers’ performance in January in Baltimore betrayed problems that go beyond scheme and personnel.

Dispatching a player with Fitzpatrick’s pedigree and resume checks the shake-up box.

The biggest negative associated with his departure is it confirms the Steelers ultimately did the wrong thing when they traded for him in the first place.

With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger injured and lost for the season two games into the 2019 season, the Steelers sent a first-round draft pick to Miami for Fitzpatrick, who immediately applied his aforementioned turnover machine skills well enough to help an 0-2 team scratch, claw and somehow wobble to 8-6 over the final 14 games.

That wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs. But it was enough to take a team that otherwise might have gone 5-11, as the Chargers did, out of the running to be in position to draft quarterback Justin Herbert sixth overall in 2020.

That was never a consideration then and the Steelers most certainly aren’t lamenting that decision now.

But it would have changed some narratives, especially at the most important position on the field.

This much hasn’t changed:

The Steelers were trying to win then and they’re trying to win now.

Not to extend Coach Mike Tomlin’s non-losing-seasons streak.

The idea, as always, is to win another Super Bowl.

The way they’re going about it is open to scrutiny, criticism and debate, but not their aspirations.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.