The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t yet know who their next franchise quarterback is going to be, or how long it will take to find them. But they believe that they have given themselves a couple of options in the interim. After signing former top-five draft pick Mitch Trubisky in free agency, they added another quarterback via the first round in April, drafting Kenny Pickett.
Through the start of OTAs, the offense has seemingly been operating with Trubisky in the driver’s seat, for now, which is certainly not an atypical approach when dealing with a veteran versus a rookie, even if both are new to the team. But while Trubisky knows that Pickett is a threat, he is still focused on his own aspirations of leading this Steelers team—and following in the footsteps of those who came before him.
“It definitely means something playing in Pittsburgh, being a Steeler and being a Steelers quarterback”, he recently told Mike Prisuta for Pittsburgh Magazine, calling it special. “You look at the two Hall-of-Famers they have here, Terry Bradshaw and then Ben Roethlisberger, coming here you’re trying to be that next guy and just carry on that legacy”.
Bradshaw was the Steelers’ first overall pick in the 1970 NFL Draft, and ultimately helped lead the team to four Super Bowl titles. They did not add to their trophy case until Roethlisberger came along decades later, the 11th overall pick in 2004. He became the youngest starting quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl by his second season, and gave Pittsburgh its then-record sixth title three years later.
Granted, they haven’t won another title since then, though they had a great shot in 2010, but every quarterback who walks through that door is looking to be the one to deliver the franchise its seventh Lombardi, Trubisky not excepted.
Trubisky went 29-21 as a starter during his four seasons with the Chicago Bears, bringing them to the postseason twice, though they lost in the first round both times. He spent the 2021 season serving as a backup behind Josh Allen with the Buffalo Bills before signing a two-year contract worth a bit over $14 million in base value that could nearly double via incentives built largely around playing time.
There is a lot of incentive, in other words, for Trubisky to earn the starting job and spend a lot of time on the field, but winning is its own reward, and winning in Pittsburgh, with the legacies of Bradshaw and Roethlisberger shadowing over him, would mean something even more special.
“I think there’s just so much respect for the tradition here and the type of football we play and the players that have come through here, not only at the quarterback position but Hall-of-Famers across the board”, Trubisky told Prisuta.
There is, and there’s nobody Steelers fans love more than winners. His legacy will be set if he can win here. But first, he has to make sure that he wins the starting job.
