The Buffalo Bills have made another move and it was a surprising one.
After Bills general manager Brandon Beane called former backup quarterback Matt Barkley to tell him they were going in a different direction, which delayed their video conference call on Thursday, the Bills announced that they were signing former Chicago Bears quarterback and the 2017 number two overall pick Mitch Trubisky to a one-year contract.
We’ve agreed to terms with QB Mitchell Trubisky on a one-year contract! #BillsMafia
Details: t.co/zU8fWQ2Arv
Some may question the reasoning for bringing in a young quarterback to sit behind Josh Allen, but Beane recognized that they don’t expect Trubisky to stay in Buffalo long. During his video conference call, he said he would expect Trubisky to move on to a different team next year in hopes of earning a starting position.
“I don’t all of what went on in Chicago but he started 50 games, he won 29, I think the label sometimes that has been put on Mitchell from afar is that maybe he doesn’t deserve it all,” Beane said on Thursday. “He’s a kind young man, caring and this is just a reset for him. We don’t expect him to be here long-term…Hopefully, in a year he’ll get a chance to go back on land a nice contract and a starting job somewhere, we have no doubt that will happen.”
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Trubisky Gives the Bills a Young Backup QB
Over the past three years, Matt Barkley has been a capable backup in Buffalo. He’s provided Josh Allen with a veteran voice.
After only playing in eight games the past three years and only starting once, the Bills decided to go with Trubisky, who has spent the first four years of his career in Chicago as an on-and-off starter.
Through those four years, he appeared in 51 career games and completed 1,010 of his 1,577 pass attempts for 10,609 yards and 64 touchdowns while throwing 37 interceptions.
Beane believes that Trubisky is closer in comparison to Allen in terms of playstyle as the former North Carolina Tar Heel is an athletic quarterback that has the ability to run the ball. He’s carried the ball 190 times for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns in his career.
“Physically he’s very talented and athletically he can do some of the same things that Josh can do with the RPO’s that Brian Daboll uses in this system,” Beane said.
The Bills also still have former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm on their depth chart after he acted as the “emergency QB” for the Bills in case they faced a contact tracing situation due to coronavirus protocols.
After signing Trubisky the Bills will have two former Top 10 picks in their quarterback room, which could bode well for their future.
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Bills Staying in Communication with Josh Allen
With the moves the Bills have made so far, Beane and Bills coach Sean McDermott said they’ve been keeping in touch with Allen, who is one of their franchise cornerstones. They also believe that he’s deserved that right as well.
“Josh is a cornerstone to our foundation and our organization,” McDermott said. “The way he has elevated his game and the work he’s put in he’s earned that. So between Brandon, myself, coach (Brian) Daboll, I would say between the three of us there’s a healthy amount of communication. Sometimes maybe to the point where Josh would probably wish we’d stop calling him.”
The pair have also wanted to keep in touch with their franchise quarterback in order to get his opinion on how moves might affect the locker room.
“He’s got a good pulse for our locker room,” Beane said. “Sometimes if you’re talking about a player adding or losing you will run that by Josh and he is great and being candid on ‘This is what I know or this is what I don’t know’ and he supports everything we do which is great to have from our young quarterback.”
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Brandon Beane Reveals Reasoning for Mitch Trubisky Signing