Echoing comments made last month by Pittsburgh Steelers’ Team President Art Rooney II, Steelers’ General Manager Omar Khan said Tuesday he wants QB Mitch Trubisky to remain on the roster in 2023.
Speaking to reporters, including our own Joe Clark, Khan said he has no desire to cut or trade Trubisky this offseason.
“Mitch has been great,” Khan said. “It’s been great having him around and I look forward to having him around here for a long time.”
Speaking to KDKA one month ago, Rooney said in strong terms that he expected Trubisky to remain with the team for 2023, despite some speculation that he could be a cap casualty. Here’s what Rooney told Bob Pompeani.
“It’s still early in the offseason but I expect Mitch will be on the roster next season. And be an effective backup when we need him. I think he showed we can win with him. I think he’ll be on the roster next year.”
It’s no longer early in the offseason. The start of the new league year begins in two weeks. Pittsburgh would save nearly $8 million post-roster displacement by releasing Trubisky, though they’d likely spend a chunk of those savings on another veteran quarterback to backup Kenny Pickett.
Trubisky signed a two-year deal on the first day of free agency in 2022. He entered the spring, summer, and early fall as the team’s starter but quickly lost his job in the regular season, benched at halftime in Week Four for Kenny Pickett. Trubisky would make a handful of appearances the rest of the season but enters the offseason as the team’s clear-cut backup. He finished the year with four touchdowns, five interceptions, and completed 65% of his passes.
Throughout the interview, Khan praised Trubisky’s attitude and leadership and affirmed his commitment to keeping him on the team.
“Mitch has been awesome since the day he got here,” Khan said. “How he’s been with Kenny’s been great. And I want Mitch around.”
Trubisky and Pickett were most recently in Florida, bringing nearly the entire Steelers’ wide receiver room with them to train for a few days. Khan said having a veteran backup behind a young starter is a good thing.
“Any young quarterback will tell you having that veteran presence around him is tremendous. Especially if you have a guy like Mitch, who handles things so well.”
Based on that and the comments made by Pittsburgh’s upper management, it seems likely Trubisky will be an expensive backup but backup nonetheless behind Pickett in 2023. The team will still need to round out its quarterback room and add two more names this offseason to have four quarterbacks to camp. But we know who the top two will be.
