The Pittsburgh Steelers and Omar Khan have been very busy all offseason long, and Khan announced that his work is not done. While he was live on The Pat McAfee Show, he announced that Mitch Trubisky will be extended, and they are almost done with negotiations. The player that everyone expected to be a cap casualty will actually be spending at least one more year in Pittsburgh. The quarterback room for the Steelers in 2023 is all but confirmed now, between this and the re-signing of Mason Rudolph.
Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today Sports
Steelers General Manager, Omar Khan stands before a group of media members at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, IN.
"We're finishing up an extension with Mitch Trubisky... We feel really good about Mitch Trubisky in the role he's in, and he feels good about it... I'm really excited about that QB room... it'll be done here shortly."
With that said, it sounds like the extension will be finalized any day now, or maybe even immediately after the show. Trubisky had his ups and downs in his first season with the Steelers in 2022, but he showed enough promise in a backup role to not only avoid being cut to save money, but to secure himself more time with the Steelers. Khan sounded very confident in Trubisky while being interviewed on McAfee's show.
Trubisky had 3.5 bad games as a starter to open up the year, leading to an argument with Diontae Johnson and him eventually getting benched at halftime of the Week 4 game. He made three appearances, including one start when Kenny Pickett went down with concussions twice. He was key in defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers. While he didn't play at a high level, he did show that he can be an effective game manager.
Photo Credit: Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation.com (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett enters 2023 as the guy after beating out Mitch Trubisky in 2022.
Even after being benched, Trubisky was able to keep his role as a team captain and helped Pickett develop as a quarterback. Even if Trubisky isn't the every-day starter for the Steelers, he has shown his worth as a veteran leader and a high-end backup. That's more than enough value for the Steelers to keep him around and essentially use him as an extra coach. Trubisky was given a two-year extension to prove how much the team trusts him.
Details: It’s a 2-year extension for Mitch Trubisky that also lowers the QB’s cap number for the 2023 season (previously $10M). The two sides have agreed, as Omar Khan said on @PatMcAfeeShow. https://t.co/LdE6gNvY3J
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 18, 2023
Are there any other motives for the Steelers to extend Trubisky?
Between the extension and Ahkello Witherspoon being cut, a lot of cap space is being freed up. The Steelers have shown interest in Kwon Alexander and have brought him in to meet with the team. Some of the money could go to him. Of course, they still need to pay most of their free agent signings, so these moves can also help with that. This would also make sure that there is more cap available for any other potential moves throughout the rest of the year.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Steelers general manager, Omar Khan speaks to the media.
Khan has also been known to trade for players with high cap hits and eat very little of the contracts. Khan traded for Allen Robinson before the draft and took on a small percentage of his deal, and eventually lowered it even more. He also traded for William Jackson III and turned a $14+ million cap hit into a <$3 million cap hit. In 2022, the Steelers traded for both Jesse Davis and Malik Reed on roster cutdown day, so the extra space could make one of those kinds of deals again.
What do you think of the Steelers extending Trubisky, Omar Khan announcing it live on a podcast, and the potential implications it may have? Let us know in the comments below.
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