PITTSBURGH — Adding Mitchell Trubisky to the Steelers isn't even remotely similar to adding Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. Everybody knows that. Everybody knows none of those quarterbacks were coming here.
Adding Trubisky doesn't give the Steelers the best or second-best or maybe even third-best quarterback in the AFC North. I know he isn't better than Cincinnati's Joe Burrow and Baltimore's Lamar Jackson. Is he better than Cleveland's Baker Mayfield? I need to see a lot of proof.
Adding Trubisky certainly doesn't make the Steelers a legitimate Super Bowl contender without many other significant additions. You are aware of the team's plentiful needs, right? Offensive and defensive linemen? Inside linebackers? Wide receivers? Maybe secondary people?
I know, it is mid-March and the Steelers certainly aren't done making moves. I'm just saying the team still needs a major overhaul. Ben Roethlisberger couldn't win big last season with the team as it currently is constructed. Terry Bradshaw couldn't have won with it.
But Trubisky was worth signing for three reasons:
One, the term is not prohibitive — two years — and the money probably isn't, either. This seems more like a show-me contract than anything else. It's not as if the Steelers are so convinced Trubisky is the real deal that they are making a huge investment in him.
Two, the Steelers didn't have to give up draft capital to get Trubisky. It's not as if they traded two or three No. 1 picks for him. They gave up nothing but his salary.
And three, Trubisky is an upgrade over Mason Rudolph.
Sorry, that's the best I can do.
I'm no better than lukewarm about the Trubisky signing.
I would love to be wrong.
I thought Trubisky was going to sign with the New York Giants. Their new head coach, Brian Daboll, was Trubisky's offensive coordinator in Buffalo last season when Trubisky was the backup to Josh Allen. Daboll raved about Trubisky as a person and a competitor even though Trubisky threw just eight passes in the regular season and none in the postseason.
It is a little troubling that the Giants didn't make a little more of a push for Trubisky. They know him better than anyone outside of Buffalo and Chicago, where he started his career.
But Trubisky has to love knowing that he will be the starting quarterback with the Steelers. Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin might tell you there will be a competition between Trubisky and Rudolph, but that is almost impossible to believe. Colbert and Tomlin have said they would be comfortable with Rudolph as their starter, but their actions the past three seasons have said differently. They benched Rudolph for Duck Hodges in 2019 when Roethlisberger was out with an elbow injury. Duck Hodges! Remember that? And if Colbert and Tomlin truly believed in Rudolph, they would not have brought Roethlisberger back for the 2021 season. They would have turned the team over to Rudolph.
So the Trubisky era begins.
Trubisky's time in Chicago didn't go well after the Bears made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 draft. The team and its fans couldn't wait to get rid of him. I know Chicago is a difficult market for any quarterback, but isn't Pittsburgh? Aren't Steelers fans just as demanding as Bears fans? Just ask Kordell Stewart, as well as any of the other 17 quarterbacks the team had between Bradshaw and Roethlisberger.
Trubisky attracted so little interest as a free agent after the 2020 season that he signed for next-to-nothing — $2.5 million — with the Bills.
Maybe it's true, as he has said, that he's a different quarterback — a better quarterback — after working with Daboll and observing Allen, one of the best in the NFL. We'll see.
The Trubisky signing almost certainly closes the door on the Steelers drafting a quarterback in an early round in next month's draft. That means Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis won't be coming to Pittsburgh, although neither might be available when they pick No. 20 in the first round, anyway. That's OK. Those other glaring needs, remember?
Trubisky, as a No. 2 overall pick, made almost $30 million in his four seasons with the Bears. He will have a chance to make really big money again with the Steelers or another team if he proves he can be a top quarterback. As for the Steelers? They will be looking for a quarterback again next season if he fails.
My best guess?
Trubisky is the Steelers' short-term answer, not their long-term solution.
