The retirement of Ben Roethlisberger after the 2021 season marked the end of an era for the franchise. There are different ways to address the quarterback position, although replacing a future Hall of Famer is never easy for teams.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers the route they took was the draft. They selected Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick in 2022 to be their signal-caller for the foreseeable future. Despite he eventually became the starting quarterback, he had to sit for a couple of games.
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Their main choice to begin the season was Mitch Trubisky. Following a year with the Buffalo Bills where he almost didn’t play behind Josh Allen, he signed with the Steelers in free agency. Considering his performances, the front office made a surprise move with him.
Mitch Trubisky’s contract
The former second overall pick signed a two-year contract worth 14.2 million dollars in 2022. He got to start the first four matchups, but the offense was among the worst in the NFL. That’s why they decided to give Pickett an opportunity. Although he plays such an important position that teams always want to keep them around if the price is correct.
Trubisky was set to make 8M as a backup, a figure a bit too high for his spot in the depth chart. Releasing him would have cleared some cap space, but Pittsburgh opted to hand him a new contract in order to lower his cap hit from the expected 10.625M.
The Steelers gave Trubisky a two-year extension. He is under contract for the next three years for 19.4M, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. This deal includes incentives that could push the total up to 33M per that report. Earlier in the week the team also made sure to keep their third option Mason Rudolph with a new contract.
“We feel good about our quarterback room, so that was an important piece. Obviously, Kenny Pickett is our starter and we feel really good about Mitch Trubisky in the role he’s in. And he feels good about it. And we’ve added Mason Rudolph. So, we’re really excited about that QB room”, Pittsburgh’s general manager Omar Khan said on the Pat McAfee Show.
