Mitch Trubisky got nothing more for 2023, no guarantees beyond it
When the Steelers re-signed backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, some wondered whether the next move would be to move on from backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Trubisky must have been wondering it, too, because he agreed to give the team two more years of control over his rights, with not a single penny more in 2023 or a single penny guaranteed in 2024 or 2025.
Per a source with knowledge of the contract, here’s the breakdown of the Trubisky deal:
1. Signing bonus: $6.92 million.
2. 2023 base salary: $1.08 million.
3. 2023 incentives: Up to $4.25 million, based on a combination of playing time and qualifying for the playoffs and/or the Pro Bowl.
4. 2024 90-man offseason roster bonus: $1 million.
5. 2024 base salary: $4.25 million.
6. 2025 90-man offseason roster bonus: $1 million.
7. 2025 base salary: $5 million.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who previously reported the details, added that Trubisky can earn $14.5 million in incentives over the final two seasons, based on playing time and performance. (We’ve yet to confirm the existence of the incentives.)
Trubisky was already due to make $8 million this year, with an incentive package of $4.25 million.
So he got nothing more this year, and he has agreed to a team-held option for 2024 and 2025 at $5.25 million and $6 million, respectively, for an average of $5.625 million.
As the source put it, it appears Trubisky accepted the two extra years to avoid being cut before making $8 million in 2023, with little chance of seeing that kind of money elsewhere.
Really, there would have been no other reason for Trubisky to give up two more years of freedom with no guarantees beyond the coming season.
So he gets the ability to keep his money for 2023, which likely wouldn’t have happened if he’d been cut in May, in exchange for committing for two years beyond it. He also has the ability to make extra money, if injuries keep starter Kenny Pickett from playing.
For Trubisky, the second overall pick in 2017, the move represents the kind of self-awareness that coincides the permanent shift from QB1 to QB2, at best. If he’s going to be a starter again (barring serious injury to Pickett), it will happen in 2026 at the earliest, when he’ll be 32.
Mitch Trubisky got nothing more for 2023, no guarantees beyond it originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
