The Pittsburgh Steelers are starting to redo their quarterback room. The Steelers and Mitch Trubisky mutually agreed to part ways before free agency, by NFL Media. The team announced his release Monday. According to multiple reports, the team chose to make this move now in order to give Trubisky a quick start to free agency.
Trubisky spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with Pittsburgh. He began the 2022 campaign as the starter ahead of Kenny Pickett before giving way to then-rookie Pickett four games into the year. He then served as Pickett’s backup for over a year before taking over at center when Pickett was injured in 2023, but Trubisky was then benched in favor of Mason Rudolph.
The former No. 2 overall pick had two years remaining on his contract, with base salaries of $4.25 million and $5 million remaining. He would have counted against the $7.56 million cap hit in 2024. The Steelers will save about $2.94 million if they release him immediately, and $5.25 million if they designate him as a cut after the June 1st.
Pittsburgh is expected to pursue a quarterback in free agency or the draft this offseason, and it seems highly unlikely that Pickett will be the starter in the third year of his rookie contract.
In addition to Trubisky, the Steelers also announced they released kicker Pressley Harvin III and offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor, who started 55 games over the past four seasons.
