The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly very interested in bringing Mitch Trubisky back as the team's backup quarterback next season, but the situation is complicated.
Although Trubisky is under contract for the 2023 campaign, if he is retained, he will count for $10.625 million against the salary cap in 2023, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac. That would make the 28-year-old one of the highest-paid backup quarterbacks in the National Football League.
As Trubisky is in the final year of his two-year contract, the seven-year veteran will be due for his entire cap hit unless the team asks him to take a pay cut, which is unlikely. As Mason Rudolph is not planning to re-sign with the Steelers after being demoted last season, it's more incentive for the Steelers to try and retain Trubisky's services.
Mitch Trubisky lost the starting quarterback job to Kenny Pickett just three weeks into the 2022-23 season, but he played very well in his brief time on the field.
Per Dulac: “Trubisky put that aside and played remarkably well on three occasions when he had to step in and replace Pickett. In those three games, he completed 48 of 64 attempts (75 percent) for 599 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. His passer rating in those games was 94.46.”
The Steelers coaching staff reportedly really liked the way Trubisky and Pickett worked together despite the former being benched, another reason they want to bring him back.
Trubisky and Rudolph were two of the top seven paid backups in the league, combining to earn $12.2 million in average salary and count $7.6 million against the 2022 salary cap, according to Dulac.
If the Steelers are unwilling to pay a premium for a backup signal-callers services, they would have to find another capable backup with starting experience to play behind Pickett. As Trubisky's average salary of $7.14 million was the second-highest in the league, it puts the Pittsburgh Steelers in a tough spot.
But in a perfect world, Mitch Trubisky and the Pittsburgh Steelers find a way to keep him in Pennsylvania for 2023.
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