The Pittsburgh Steelers had to go out and restructure their quarterback room following the 2021 NFL season. With future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger entering retirement the Steelers needed to do something drastic to find his replacement. On the first day of legal free agent tampering the Steelers reached an agreement with former #2 overall pick Mitchell Trubisky. That was the first piece of the puzzle.
Mitchell Trubisky practices during voluntary workouts in Pittsburgh / Steelers.com
Trubisky had fizzled out in Chicago after struggling to be consistent, but many of the Bears' issues weren't because of Trubisky. Injuries at the receiver position seemed to pop up every season for the Bears, and a suspect line would leave Trubisky running for his life more often than not. And not to mention his coach was Matt Nagy. So, the Bears decided to not pick up Trubisky's 5th year option, and he became a free agent in 2021.
He didn't find much of a market, so he decided to head to Buffalo to back up Josh Allen. While in Buffalo he was able to grow, and work on some of his issues that he did have in Chicago. At the same time he was able to watch Allen, and learn from him.
This week Steelers running back Najee Harris spoke to the New York Post about a variety of topics, and one of the questions asked as about the addition of Trubisky.
“It’s a good pickup,” Harris said of Trubisky to the NY Post. “He does a good job of extending plays. He uses his legs a lot. He’s actually fast too. He’s athletic.”
Harris said last month that the Steelers had kept him in the loop about their quarterback situation. They had told Harris that signing Trubisky was likely. And when the Steelers did get Trubisky to Pittsburgh to sign the deal they agreed upon Harris flew to Pittsburgh to meet him.
“Right when we picked him up and he signed, I flew out there that day from Houston,” Harris told Brooke Pryor of ESPN last month. “I was there for at least 8 hours to chill with him and chop it up with him. We exchanged numbers, and we’ve been talking ever since. We were with each other in Florida and we’re here now with each other."
Harris accepted an invitation from Trubisky to join him at his Florida residence last month. Many members of the team flew down and worked out together for the weekend. One of the most important aspects of a football team is their chemistry.
“Mitch is really cool. He’s open to everything. He’s trying to understand who he has around him with players. Just how things are. He’s embracing his role pretty good. He has an opportunity to play, so he’s embracing that.”
Harris has a bond with Trubisky it seems, and maybe that will help Trubisky in the long run during the quarterback competition. But if rookie Kenny Pickett shines during the preseason it won't be hard for Harris to get comfortable with him either. The Steelers open rookie minicamp today, and all eyes will be on Pickett.
