We’re now a week into free agency, and most of the cream-of-the-crop tier of talent has already landed and signed deals with their new employers. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, this period seemed to be an anomaly for them compared to many offseasons past, as they shelled out some money to try and shore up the various holes across the roster. For some of those pickups, the chance to play in the Steel City will reunite them with ex-teammates, like Myles Jack who played with Tyson Alualu in Jacksonville, or Levi Wallace who played with Minkah Fitzpatrick collegiately at Alabama.
Much has been made of the Wallace-Fitzpatrick correlation already, as Fitzpatrick was avidly recruiting Wallace to join the black and gold. However, this morning Wallace sat down with the panel on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and cited another key Steelers’ signee as a motivating factor in his decision-QB Mitch Trubisky.
“For me, it was one of the biggest reasons why I went to Pittsburgh, seeing him go to the Steelers a few days before me,” he told the show. “One, just the leader that he is on and off the field. I mean, Josh was our leader in Buffalo right, and Mitch did a tremendous job with scout team with leading us too. I mean, that’s our second quarterback, if anything happens to Josh. And so, just his preparation on and off the field each and every day kind of went unnoticed, for me at least. And then just the hard work that he puts in. Even when he got his opportunities, he went out there and did exactly what he needed to get done.”
For the #2 overall pick in the 2017 draft, maybe it was simply a case of being thrown into the fire too soon in Chicago. The talent surrounding him didn’t seem to do him any favors, but Trubisky was represented in the Pro Bowl in 2018, so the talent is, and always was, there.
In an article earlier this week by our own Josh Carney, Trubisky even went on record as stating his mental processing and his accuracy are two areas where his game has improved the most. Perhaps exiting from the Matt Nagy circus in Chicago and sitting behind MVP candidate Josh Allen was a blessing in disguise. He also got to learn under the tutelage of known QB whisperer Brian Daboll, who was Buffalo’s offensive coordinator, and is now the new head coach of the New York Giants.
Sometimes in life, a change of scenery is best for both parties, whether it be at a job, in a relationship, etc. Joining an organization with the top-to-bottom stability and winning culture that Pittsburgh offers seems to one of the selling points for Wallace, and he’s not only excited to be back with Trubisky, but he knows firsthand what kind of player the Steelers are getting.
“Just a smart player, overall talent. You know, I’m so excited to be working with him again. Him and his beautiful family, I just saw them a couple days ago too. And it was definitely one of the biggest factors for me to go to Pittsburgh as well. “
