It's always wise to have a reliable backup quarterback on the roster. Pittsburgh is ensuring it has one for at least the next three seasons.
The Steelers are finalizing a two-year extension with Mitchell Trubisky, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday, per a source. The deal places Trubisky under team control through the 2025 season while lowering his 2023 cap number, which previously stood at $10 million, per Rapoport. Trubisky is due to make $19.4 million over the next three years, but can earn a total of $33 million with incentives, Rapoport added.
Pittsburgh announced the new three-year deal on Friday.
Trubisky arrived in Pittsburgh in 2022 as a bridge quarterback for a team that was waiting for the right time to insert first-round pick Kenny Pickett into the starting lineup. Trubisky began the season as the starter, a role he occupied for the first month of the campaign, going 1-3 in his four starts before Pickett took over. Trubisky returned to the lineup for one more start in Week 14, leading the Steelers to a victory over Carolina.
It's clear now that Pickett is Pittsburgh's quarterback of the future. Trubisky isn't sticking around to compete for the starting job, but as the football world has learned on a number of occasions over the last decade, the backup quarterback remains a highly important member of the team and to its chances of success.
"We feel good about our quarterback room," Steelers general manager Omar Khan told The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday. "That was an important piece. We've got, obviously Kenny Pickett is our starter. We feel really good about Mitch Trubisky in the role that he's in. He feels good about it."
The Steelers have seen enough from Trubisky to keep the former No. 2 overall pick on the roster beyond 2023 -- and give themselves some immediate cap flexibility. The news of Trubisky's extension comes one day after the team re-signed third-string QB Mason Rudolph to a one-year deal.
