The Pittsburgh Steelers made the decision to release quarterback Mitch Trubisky early in their offseason and despite the bitter ending, he appreciated how the organization handled the process.
"It was very chill, to be honest with you," Trubisky told reporters after signing with the Buffalo Bills last week. "It wasn't like my other free agencies. I was thankful that the Steelers released me earlier than free agency actually started so my agent was able to start talking to some teams and so I took a very relaxed approach."
Trubisky signed a two-year, $14.28 million deal with the Steelers in 2022 and was lined up to be the surefire starter before Kenny Pickett was drafted. Trubisky still started the beginning of the 2022 season but was benched for his poor play early in the season. He was replaced Pickett again in 2023 when the former first-round pick went down with an ankle injury but then quickly benched again for Mason Rudolph.
He ended his time with the Steelers having completed 184 of 287 passes for 1,884 yards and 12 total touchdowns. Trubisky is now on a two-year, $5,250,000 contract with the Buffalo Bills.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan said during the NFL Combine that part of the reason they opted to let of of Trubisky - alongside center Mason Cole, tackle Chukwuma Okorafor and punter Pressley Harvin - so early in the offseason was to give them a head start on finding new teams.
"I would say that with Pressley and Mitch and Mason and Chuks," Kahn said, "Once we made the decision that they weren't going to be a part of the 2024 team, it just felt like the right thing to do was to give those guys the opportunity to hit the free agency market sooner rather than later."
Those four have started to fond new homes before the official start of free agency in mid-March. Trubisky is now back in Buffalo, where he spent the years in between his tenure with the Chicago Bears and Steelers. And Okorafor signed a new deal with the Patriots just this week.
"It was a good, mutual breakup, I guess you would call it," Trubisky said. "I mean, there were rumblings that they were going to do it. And so, my mindset was if it's going to happen, it'd probably be more beneficial to do it sooner rather than later to help me get a head start on free agency. ... I'm thankful for that and I'm thankful for my time there."
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