The Mitch Trubisky Experiment is Over

INDIANAPOLIS — After their loss to the Colts, the road for Mitch Trubisky in Pittsburgh is just about done. Despite the team giving him an extension this offseason to keep him here long-term, the fact that the flatlined on him late in the game to go to Mason Rudolph says it all.

It is what it is, but you can’t bench the backup you are paying handsomely and expect to go back from that. The conversation for Trubisky being pulled was terse. Mason Rudolph is not some savior that anyone will want to paint him out to be. Kenny Pickett is injured, and the best quarterback on this team, and it’s not very close. And that’s not to heap some praise on Pickett.

But when you pay a guy like Trubisky the money you are paying him and extend him suddenly, but then bench him, this is where there is no coming back from a move like this one. The Steelers have and will likely move on the offseason. It makes sense, and their faith in Trubisky is all but fractured. There are too many reasons to list why he is struggling, but they keep adding up.

He doesn’t trust his mechanics; he fades into pressure, his processing is slow, and Trubisky can not even consistently throw the ball accurately when he finds the open receiver. He is not playing to the level that a usually solid backup quarterback should, and you can not get paid lavish money to play like he has. Pittsburgh has to start anew in the quarterback room. Pickett is the only guy who should be back.

When the head coach benches a guy like Trubisky at this moment, it’s all but a formality. The Steelers will be looking for another quarterback on the open market and will likely find that guy in free agency. They might even draft a guy and add two new quarterbacks. It’s not a bad idea when you need to find a stable floor and an upside in that room.

Trubisky’s stay in Pittsburgh is heading toward a sad end. The writing is on the wall after Saturday’s events, and with the team and front office having as minimal faith in him as they appear to have, they can not justify paying him like they are right now to be one of the better backups in the NFL.