Is Mitch Trubisky destined to be the next 'Charlie Batch' for the Steelers

Sometimes the Steelers throw curveballs fans never see coming. In the last week, the Steelers not only inked a new one-year deal with Mason Rudolph but then surprisingly offered Mitch Trubisky a two-year contract extension which he accepted. For a seemingly disgruntled player at the end of the season, the news surprised everyone.

The new deal with Mason Rudolph, a player everyone thought would not return, is not as surprising as it seems. We are just a little over two months from training camp, and Mason Rudolph had not gotten any offers, or at least no offer he felt was credible. Thus opting for one more year as a backup made sense. If the option is not playing at all.

Has Trubisky accepted being the backup QB for the Steelers?

Mitch Trubisky’s situation is a little different. He didn’t have to extend his contract. He could have played his remaining year and then decided to test free agency in 2024 to see if another team is desperate enough to take a chance on him for a starting role.

Which, to a certain degree, seems a bit odd from a guy who, near the end of the 2022 season, claimed he regretted signing a deal with Steelers as fast as he did. For the Steelers this move, while giving Trubisky some security through 2025, was solely to reduce the hit against the salary cap.

So perhaps Trubisky just wanted to play nice and allow the Steelers to manipulate the salary cap to help sign their top three draft choices. Of course, the chance to earn a total of $33 million while helping his team reduce their salary cap may have influenced his decision just a bit.

Still, one has to wonder if Trubisky would still like the opportunity to take another stab at becoming a starter in the NFL. However, if he stays in Pittsburgh for the next three years, the potential opportunities of claiming a starting job in the NFL will dry up, not leaving Trubisky with many options.

Since Kenny Pickett is the franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future, unless Pickett suffers a serious injury, possibly ending his career play, Trubisky will not replace Pickett as the starter. Thus is it possible Trubisky has accepted he is now the backup to Kenny Pickett for the next few years?

Perhaps it’s not the worst thing for Trubisky. It gives him some security and a decent paycheck, and he does not have as much wear and tear on his body. Charlie Batch found himself playing backup for the Steelers after being run out of Detroit in 2003 and stayed in that role until 2012. Batch never complained, and it worked out nicely for him.

While we can’t say Trubisky has made the same decision to stay in the backup role, it may not be the most glorious spot on an NFL roster, but you can’t deny it worked well for Charlie Batch. It could work well for Mitch Trubisky too.