Mitch Trubisky’s long-term plan when joining the Buffalo Bills close to 18 months ago has finally come to fruition.
The Bills were able to sign Trubisky in the 2021 offseason to back up Josh Allen, convincing him to take a smaller contract that he could have gotten elsewhere in exchange for the chance to play for the same coaching staff that molded Allen into an MVP-caliber quarterback. As Bills general manager Brandon Beane said at the time, they pitched Trubisky on the idea of spending a year in Buffalo and “reset” before competing for starting jobs again.
“What we sold to him and his agent is, ‘Just come here for a reboot. Work with Josh Allen and our other quarterbacks, Jake Fromm (and) Davis Webb, (offensive coordinator) Brian Daboll and (quarterbacks coach) Ken Dorsey,” Beane said. “Come here, have a reset year and just be a part of what we’re doing here.”
With the reset year behind him, Trubisky has now found his way back into a starting job.
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Trubisky Officially Named Starter in Pittsburgh
Though many insiders had long assumed that Trubisky would win the starting job after joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, it wasn’t official until the team put out the depth chart on September 5. Trubisky was listed as the starter ahead of veteran Mason Rudolph and rookie Kenny Pickett.
The #Steelers depth chart has been released and it’s now official: Mitch Trubisky is the starting QB.
As ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reported, the team named its captains on Monday and defensive captain Cameron Heyward confirmed that Trubisky would be the starter.
“All three quarterbacks have just been great, if I’m being honest, but Mitch is the guy we’re riding with,” Heyward said.
Our 2⃣0⃣2⃣2⃣ team captains:
@ohthatsNajee22
@CamHeyward
Miles Killebrew
@Mtrubisky10
@_TJWatt
In addition to winning the starting job, Trubisky was also named one of the team’s captains for the year.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” Trubisky said. “Anytime you’re voted by your peers and your teammates, it obviously means a lot. I just come in here, try to lead by example, earn the trust of my teammates, and for them to vote me captain, it definitely means a lot.”
Pryor noted that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was expected to make the official announcement on Tuesday, and Trubisky didn’t want to address the decision when asked on Monday.
“You can assume anything you want,” the former No. 2 overall pick said. “I mean, nah, the announcement will come out when it needs to come out, but you’re not gonna hear from me. And we just go about our business.”
Trubisky May Not Have Long-Term Stability
Though Trubisky was the consensus pick among insiders to gain the starting job, many also expect Pickett to eventually take over the job. The first-round pick is currently listed at third on the depth chart, but The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly predicted that he would be starting at some point in the coming season.
.@kennypickett10 threaded the needle on this one. 🪡
📺: #DETvsPIT on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ t.co/rlWooatGHB
“I can guarantee you this: It is going to be at some point this year,” he wrote. “It basically always happens with rookie first-round quarterbacks not named Jordan Love. In reality, it is going to be up to Mitch Trubisky, who would have to either get injured or put together a string of bad games coupled with bad practices to get yanked. A bad game against the Patriots isn’t going to do it. Trubisky is going to get a longer leash than you may want or expect.”
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Ex-Bills QB Wins Battle in Pittsburgh, Officially Named Starter