Pittsburgh Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky has experienced the highs and lows that come with being an NFL quarterback. He was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, ahead of QBs Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson as well as current teammate OLB T.J. Watt, by the Chicago Bears. Trubisky enjoyed some success early on his career, leading Chicago to the playoffs in his second season, throwing for 3,223 yards and 24 touchdowns while rushing for 421 yards and three scores in his lone Pro Bowl season.
However, Trubisky’s career took a downward spiral after that, failing to develop in Chicago, and he was allowed to walk as a free agent when his contract was up. He signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills, backing up Josh Allen for a season, before coming to Pittsburgh last season. He was the team’s starter until rookie QB Kenny Pickett was ready, the latter taking the job from him in Week Four last season. Since then, Trubisky has filled in for Pickett after numerous injuries, including the last two weeks as Pittsburgh lost key games to the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, putting its playoff hopes in peril.
Heading into Saturday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, there is a lot of pressure on Trubisky to have a good performance as the fans were clamoring for Mason Rudolph to get a shot last week as he struggled. Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette jumped on The Fan Morning Show Wednesday and was asked if he believes there is a chance Pittsburgh could turn to Rudolph if Trubisky gets off to another slow start on Saturday.
“It all depends on Mitch, right?” Fittipaldo said on The Fan Morning Show. “If Mitch comes out and they get behind, I would not be surprised at all if they turned to Mason. Mitch didn’t get off to a good start in his first start against the Patriots, but Mike [Tomlin] said the other day that he came around and he settled down. This is a big game for Mitch. If you look at his contract, they’re paying him…his cap hit this year is over $10 million. So there’s the expectation that if he ever had to play in this situation that he could come in and help this team potentially get to the playoffs if there was ever a long-term injury to Kenny like we’re in right now.
“This is big for Mitch going forward too. They can get out of this contract if they don’t want Mitch back. I think that’s it’s only a $4 million dead cap hit. So, if Mitch doesn’t perform now, I don’t know what his future with the Steelers is.”
Rudolph has waited his turn like a good soldier, but Tomlin said in his press conference on Monday that the team is not opening up a competition for the job as Trubisky will remain the team’s starter going forward. Tomlin mentioned that Rudolph would receive more reps in practice this week to be ready in case of an injury to Trubisky but stuck with his initial decision after Pickett got hurt against Arizona that he would roll with Trubisky at quarterback.
Tomlin’s reasoning for wanting to keep Trubisky in there has weight. Trubisky has extensive playing time the last two seasons whereas Rudolph hasn’t seen a regular-season snap in two years along with minimal practice snaps. Trubisky is also getting paid good money to be this team’s backup quarterback, having re-signed this offseason, dropping his previous cap hit to $6,011,666 in 2023. With a dead cap hit of $4,613,334 in 2024 with a cap saving of nearly $3 million, according to OverTheCap, Pittsburgh could realistically get out of Trubisky’s contract and eat that cap hit should he continue to underwhelm as this team’s backup quarterback.
Fittipaldo put it best: Saturday is a big day for Trubisky. He hasn’t proven to be a reliable fill-in for Pickett thus far in two seasons, having the tendency to put the ball in harm’s way while lacking the poise and confidence to keep the offense afloat. Should he continue to struggle against Indianapolis on Saturday with Pittsburgh’s playoff chances on the line, Tomlin could turn to Rudolph to give the offense a spark, particularly if Trubisky is the reason the offense falters. Either way, a lot is riding on Saturday for Trubisky, not only regarding his future with the Steelers but also his status in the NFL. If he can’t do the bare minimum as a backup quarterback, his odds of becoming a primary backup somewhere else may become bleak.
