Brooke PryorESPN staff writerRead 3 minutes
PITTSBURGH — Mitch Trubisky isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
With one year remaining on the backup quarterback’s contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers are finalizing a two-year extension with the former No. 2 overall pick, a source confirmed to ESPN.
NFL Network first reported that the Steelers are finalizing an extension with Trubisky.
Earlier Thursday, Steelers general manager Omar Khan said in an interview with the “Pat McAfee Show” that he was “finalizing an extension” with Trubisky, but did not specify the length of the deal.
“We feel good in our quarterback, and that was an important piece,” Khan said in an interview. “Obviously, we’ve got Kenny Pickett as our starter. We feel really good about the role Mitch Trubisky is playing. We feel really good about him. We’ve added Mason Rudolph. We feel really good about the QB unit.”
Trubisky was set to count through the 2023 season with $10.6 million in cap space, and the extension would provide cap flexibility, as well as position Trubisky as a top-tier backup. The move comes one day after the Steelers re-signed Rudolph to a one-year contract in free agency, keeping the quarterback intact through 2022.
Although Trubisky, the 2022 team captain, lost his job early last season, he was a valuable asset to the first-round pick, and provided the Steelers with a solid insurance policy in terms of starters and prospects.
Khan was clear about his desire to pursue Trubisky at the NFL combine in February, hinting at an extension at the time.
“Mitch was great,” Kahn said on the set. “It was great to have him, and I look forward to having him here for a long time. Not just this year, but for a long time.”
In the year Signing a two-year, $14 million contract with Pittsburgh on the first day of free agency in 2022, Trubisky, drafted by the Bears in 2017, joins the Steelers looking to jumpstart his career after a year as Josh Allen’s backup in Buffalo. The Steelers drafted Pickett in the first round less than two months after signing Trubisky, but the veteran took the starting job out of training camp.
But the offense struggled to find its footing in the opening games of the season. Looking for a coaching spark, he brought in Pickett to replace Trubisky midway through a Week 4 loss to the New York Jets. In his first four starts in Pittsburgh, Trubisky threw for 653 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
“They elected me captain, so come in here, put my hand in the pile and I’ve got to lead these guys the best way I can,” Trubisky told ESPN last year.
After being moved into a backup role for Pickett, Trubisky got one more start in Week 14 against the Carolina Panthers, completing 17 of 22 attempts for 179 yards in a 24-16 victory. Trubisky saw action in two other games after Pickett suffered the concussion, first helping the Steelers to a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6 when he completed 9 of 12 attempts for 144 yards and a touchdown. Then, in Week 13, she threw three interceptions and one touchdown in a loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
In six seasons in the NFL, Trubisky has completed 64.2% of his pass attempts and thrown 68 touchdown passes to 43 interceptions in 64 games (55 starts).