PITTSBURGH — The decision to give Mitch Trubisky a new contract goes beyond providing the Steelers a quality backup — and proven relief pitcher — for Kenny Pickett for the next three seasons.
It will significantly lower the $10.625 million salary cap hit he was going to count for the 2023 season.
Trubisky's three-year deal is worth $19.65 million with $8 million guaranteed. The $8 million, which comes in the form of a $6.92 million signing bonus and a veteran minimum salary of $1.08 million in 2023, represents what he was originally due in salary this season.
Trubisky will earn $5.25 million in salary and roster bonus in 2024 and $6.4 million in salary and roster bonus in 2025. He can earn an additional $14.5 million in incentives in the final two years of his contract, but most of the incentives are based on amount of playing time and performance.
The deal allows Trubisky to still receive what he was originally due to make this season, but it will clear approximately $4.6 million in cap space for the Steelers in 2023.
Most important, though, it gives the Steelers a top-tier backup for the next three years in the event something happens with Pickett. Couple that with the unexpected return of Mason Rudolph, who was re-signed to a one-year deal for $1.08 million, and the Steelers quarterback room is the strongest it has been since 2012 when Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch were the backups for Ben Roethlisberger.
Leftwich and Batch combined to start 105 games in the NFL, 40 more than the duo of Trubisky and Rudolph. But Trubisky, a former No. 2 overall selection who will be 29 in August, has started 55 games in his six-year career, the same number as Batch.
The Steelers wanted to keep Trubisky beyond the season for several reasons. They liked the relationship he developed with Pickett and the way he worked with the rookie quarterback, even after being suddenly benched four games into the season.
What's more, he showed his preparation and readiness when he came off the bench in games against Tampa Bay, Baltimore and Carolina and provided the best quarterback play the Steelers received all season. Trubisky completed 75% of his passes (48 of 64) for 599 yards and two touchdowns with a passer rating of 94.47 in those games. He threw three interceptions — all against the Ravens.
Trubisky's new deal will coincide with the length of Pickett's rookie contract. If nothing else, it means the Steelers don't have to worry about finding a quality backup until 2026.
Extending his contract was one of the best moves of their offseason.
Flip or flop?
The Steelers are the latest example of why rosters in the NFL have the stability of a three-legged table.
According to Pro Football Reference, only 56% of players on average return from one season to the next. The number is even smaller for players two years out — 35%.
The reasons for the turnover are many, but free agency and salaries are at the top of list. Nonetheless, roster turnover is a good thing for the league because it keeps teams competitive, gives fans reason to have hope and makes the product watchable.
This is what is happening with the Steelers.
In the past two years, they have been busier than a holiday shopper in the offseason, signing 14 significant players, including nine starters, in free agency. They have flipped their roster in uncharacteristic fashion, turning over both sides of the ball in an attempt to end the longest playoff victory drought in franchise history.
Since the end of the 2021 season, only 20 players remain on the roster as the Steelers prepare for the start of their offseason training activities that begin on Tuesday. That number could shrink even more by the time they get to training camp in Latrobe when decisions are made on players such as Kevin Dotson and Kendrick Green, to name a few.
While their 37.7% roster retention rate is keeping with the league's two-year average, it is still a departure for the Steelers. They spent $31.7 million in guaranteed money to sign eight outside free agents whom they expect to be starters or significant backups in 2023. Before the 2022 season, they handed out $85 million in contracts to bring in six significant free agents, including four starters.
OK, the turnover rate does not compare to what Pete Carroll did when he took over the Seattle Seahawks in 2010, making more than 200 roster transactions his first year and turning over all but a handful of players on the 53-man roster in a two-year period. Two years after Sean McDermott was hired in Buffalo, only four players were left on the Bills roster he inherited.
The Steelers' overhaul is not that drastic, but it's what happens — and what is necessitated — when you haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season.
