Though Mitch Trubisky signed in 2022 to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback, his latest deal cements him as the team’s backup behind Kenny Pickett. Despite that change on the depth chart, Trubisky told reporters after Tuesday’s OTA practice he’s excited to remain a Steeler for the foreseeable future.
“They worked through it with my agent,” he said as tweeted by The Trib’s Chris Adamski. “I thought it was a great idea. I love being here and they want me here. It was an easy decision on my part for me and my family. And we’re excited about it. And it’s back to work.”
In news broken by GM Omar Khan himself, Trubisky signed a two-year extension with the Steelers last week that will make him one of the higher-paid backups in football.
While an erratic starter throughout his career, he immediately becomes one of the NFL’s top backups. With Kenny Pickett suffering multiple concussions as a rookie, Trubisky is a solid insurance policy. Even after Pickett was named the team’s starter in Week 5, Trubisky still appeared and played significant snaps in three more games, starting one of them.
The extension also creates clarity about the QB room beyond 2023. Prior to the extension, Pickett and UDFA Tanner Morgan were the only two quarterbacks on the Steelers’ roster signed beyond this year. Now, Trubisky is signed through 2025. He told reporters, as tweeted by 93.7 The Fan, that while he’d still like to start, he knows opportunities could come later in his career.
Top to bottom, Pittsburgh has a solid quarterback room in 2023 with Pickett at the top, Trubisky as the #2, and Mason Rudolph surprisingly returning as the team’s #3.
Trubisky told reporters contract that talks began a few weeks ago and heated up last week before the contract got finalized. He thanked the front office by name and expressed his excitement to remain in Pittsburgh.
“I’m just excited to be here, be a part of this team, and help in any way that I can,” he said.
He’s also excited to remain on the same team as Pickett, noting the two grew close last season. That continued this offseason when Trubisky and Pickett arranged another set of offseason private workouts at Trubisky’s Florida home.
“We’re friends in inside the building and off the field,” he said via the team website. “We hang out all the time. [My wife] and his fiancé are close…when you just have that chemistry, the honest conversations are easier to have and we just go in there and be ourselves and we all want the same thing.”
In Week Four of last season, Trubisky lost his job to Pickett. But he served as a mentor and leader the rest of the way, Pickett calling him another coach he could lean on, and Trubisky has always been praised for his maturity and locker room presence. Cementing himself as a backup might not be ideal but Trubisky also finds some stability with the extension, no longer wondering where he’ll play next. Still just one snap away from action, he’s likely to see the field to some degree in 2023.
