Mitch Trubisky Embraces Backup Role, ‘Excited’ to Be in Pittsburgh Long Term

PITTSBURGH — Mitch Trubisky signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022 to be the team’s starting quarterback.

Four games into the 2022 season, Trubisky was no longer the team’s starting quarterback. With a big contract designed for a starter, it didn’t seem likely that Trubisky would be back for the final year of his contract in 2023, let alone beyond.

But Trubisky committed to the backup role, supporting Kenny Pickett throughout his rookie season, and the Steelers committed to Trubisky, signing him to a two-year contract extension through 2025.

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“I’m just excited to be here, be a part of this organization, the team, and help any way that I can,” Trubisky said on Tuesday after the first practice of organized team activities.

“I didn’t know what to expect. They worked through it with my agent. I thought it was a great idea. I love being here and they want me here. It was an easy decision for my part, for me and my family.”

Trubisky could have sought another opportunity that might’ve led to a more obvious path back to a starting role after getting just three cracks at it with the Steelers last fall. But the former first-round pick has been around the NFL a good bit now, playing through multiple coaching regimes in Chicago with a stop in Buffalo before coming to Pittsburgh.

He found something he really liked in the family atmosphere of the Steelers, and the new dad — his son Hudson was born in Pittsburgh last May — likes being so close to his hometown of Mentor, Ohio.

“It’s the family atmosphere, it’s the teammates, it’s the people,” Trubisky said. “It’s just a great fit for me and my family. We just loved everything about it. I love Coach T, Omar [Khan], Mr. Rooney and his family. It’s just a special place to be a part of.”

Trubisky wasn’t the only member of the Steelers’ 2022 quarterback room that made a surprising decision to return in 2023. Third-stringer Mason Rudolph recently re-signed with the club on a one-year deal, bringing back all three members of the room from last year.

“We’ve got a really great quarterback room,” Trubisky said. “I love having Mason back, too. We’re going to have a lot of fun and we’re going to get to work. Anything I can be for Kenny: a soundboard, an extra coach, extra eyes on the field, I’m going to be there for him and he knows that. I think that’s also why they wanted to have me back, to have me in that role and help any way that I can.”

Trubisky said that relationship eased the transition from competition as Pickett’s starter to embracing a role as his friend, mentor and backup.

“It’s just being transparent and being yourself,” he said. “We both have personalities. We just get along with each other. We’re friends inside the building and off the field. We hang out all the time. [My] wife and his fiancee are close. It’s just a great dynamic on this team. When you have that chemistry, the honest conversations are easier to have. We just go in there and be ourselves. 

“We all want the same thing: the Pittsburgh Steelers to win.”