On the first day of free agency last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed free-agent quarterback Mitch Trubisky. The move was aggressive by Steelers standards but the team knew it had to move quickly to find a player to bridge the gap after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
The season did not go according to plans for Trubisky as the team promptly drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft and a month into the season, benched Trubisky in favor of him.
Trubisky has already voiced his regret in signing so quickly and the vibe he’s giving off is that he wants to be on a team where he can start and the Steelers aren’t it. But according to Steelers owner Art Rooney II, that may not happen in 2023.
When Rooney spoke to the media this week, he all but assured fans that Trubisky would be back as Pickett’s backup. Trubisky has an $11 million cap hit for next season so it seems unreasonable to pay him that but we can’t confuse that with what was a fair free-agent contract at the time.
Consistency is so important when gauging the success of a team. This team is better if Trubisky is the backup because he knows the system better than anyone that the front office could bring. But is that experience worth $11 million? Perhaps not. But there is room for Pittsburgh and Trubisky to get together on a contract extension to lower that 2023 cap hit and maintain that chemistry on the depth chart.
Let us know in the comments if you think the Steelers should keep Trubisky and under what circumstances.
