Steelers Get Mitchell Trubisky on Incentive-Laden Contract

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ contract with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky will pay him at least $14 million over the next two season, with incentives to go higher according to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

The deal also has $13.75 million in potential incentives, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The exact salary cap hit for Trubisky for 2022 will be determined by how much of those incentives get categorized as likely to be earned, and also the distribution of the total over the two years of the contract.

Likely to be earned status is based on a player’s previous season performance, so since Trubisky threw just eight passes in 2021, most of those incentives, while potentially easy for Trubisky to earn if he becomes the Steelers’ starting quarterback this season, will not count against the 2022 salary cap at first.

Any incentives categorized as not likely to be earned that Trubisky hits this season will count toward the Steelers’ 2023 salary cap.

Trubisky’s incentives will also determine how he is valued as part of the compensatory draft pick formula. As it stands right now, he will give the Buffalo Bills a sixth-round pick, while canceling out the Steelers’ top loss.

The Steelers entered the 2022 offseason with almost $20 million in usable salary cap space and have the ability to add more.