Tag: Mitch Trubisky

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph looking forward to a fresh start

The Steelers could be down two quarterbacks from last season.

According to the NFL Network, the Pittsburgh Steelers could be without two of the three quarterbacks that were on the team in 2023. They talked about several of the interesting quarterback situations across the league this offseason and the Steelers quarterback situation is one of the most interesting.

They speculate about the team releasing veteran Mitch Trubisky to save salary cap and we couldn’t agree more. They note the bonus situation but releasing Trubisky with a post-June 1 designation, it saves the Steelers more than $5 million against the cap.

But the bigger conversation is about Mason Rudolph. Rudolph was the best quarterback on the roster in 2023. He stepped in to replace Kenny Pickett and played well enough to earn a new contract. But as they noted,  Rudolph is looking for a fresh start and hoping to parlay this success into a contract somewhere else. With new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in place, it is hard to say if they will even consider Rudolph in Pittsburgh.

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Steelers on the clock over quarterback position

The Steelers have some big decisions to make about the quarterback decision and they will come quickly.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have three quarterbacks but the only one we are sure will be on the team in 2024 is Kenny Pickett. This puts the Steelers front office on the clock in coming up with a plan for how to address the position.

Mason Rudolph was the late-season hero when he took over the starting spot. Rudolph rallied the troops, played with confidence and opened up the offense. But now he is staring down free agency and after his strong finish, should have options.

Then there is Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky’s addition was supposed to be the bridge to the future after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger. But when he was called upon in 2023, he let the team down. He is, however, under contract through the 2025 season.

So what are the Steelers to do? They would save more against the cap to release Trubisky with a post-June 1 designation, meaning he might stick around a little longer. Nevertheless, there’s no value in keeping Trubisky, especially if it means losing an opportunity to re-sign Rudolph.

But what happens if Rudolph does sign somewhere else? Will this force the Steelers to keep Trubisky? That kind of decision could depend on not only other free-agent quarterbacks and the 2024 NFL draft. The team should know what’s going on with Rudolph before the draft and if he is re-signed, it would allow Pittsburgh to jettison Trubisky and fill out the depth chart with either a low-cost vet or a rookie.

However, if Rudolph leaves, Pittsburgh might want to go ahead and cut Trubisky loose and just start fresh.

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Breaking down the 4 paths for the Steelers at the QB position

The Steelers must address the quarterback position this offseason.

One of the biggest issues facing the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason is what they want to do with the quarterback position. Here is a look at the four different paths the Steelers could consider to get the quarterback position in order.

Several former Tar Heels set to play in NFL Playoffs

There are six former UNC football players on NFL postseason rosters. Houston Texans right tackle Charlie Heck will be the only one starting.

Starting in just two days, there’ll be a lot of smiles and broken hearts.

No, we’re not talking about weddings and breakups. We’re talking about the NFL Playoffs.

The San Francisco 49ers are looking to win their first Super Bowl since 1994, with 2024 their best chance to do so, thanks to a pair of MVP candidates in Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey.

The Cleveland Browns have defied all injury odds, winning four December games to put themselves in the AFC’s top Wild Card spot, by playing top-notch defense and bringing in Joe Flacco behind a banged-up offensive line.

UNC football fans should also be excited about the NFL postseason, with six former Tar Heels set to take the field. This should offer the Carolina faithful some much-needed relief, with the college campaign not ending so well.

You might want to know – which Tar Heels will be suiting up in pursuit of a Super Bowl? There’s one name you might be able to guess (former second overall pick), but you’ll have to read the full list below for more names.

Spotrac offers up offseason blueprint for Steelers QB room

Spotrac forecasts what the future holds contractually for Steelers QBs Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky.

It’s looking like the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to do everything in their power to keep Mason Rudolph under contract beyond the 2023 season. He signed a one-year deal in May and will likely have plenty of demand for his services in 2024. While he may not be deemed starter-worthy — unless he knocks the socks off in the postseason — he’ll at least have a chance to go in and compete. That’s not a guarantee in Pittsburgh.

It certainly doesn’t seem like it right now, but the starting gig will be Kenny Pickett‘s job to lose come training camp. Unless Mike Tomlin suddenly changes his stubborn ways, there won’t be a quarterback competition. If there is, it’ll be similar to what we saw (didn’t see) between Mitch Trubisky, Pickett and Rudolph in 2022: All lip service.

Only it’s a foregone conclusion that Trubisky won’t be in the mix this year.

Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti predicts that Trubisky will be given his walking papers prior to when his $1 million roster bonus kicks in in March. With that, he sees Rudolph inking another one-year deal to the tune of $2.5 million to back Pickett up.

“Kenny Pickett carries a fully guaranteed two years, $4.6M, and should regain his starting gig next spring,” Ginnitti wrote. “2024 will be a pivotal year for the future of Pickett in Pitt. Mitchell Trubisky holds a non-guaranteed two years, $11.25M (incredibly).”

My feeling is that it’ll take more than $2.5 million to keep Rudolph in the Pittsburgh saddle. He doesn’t require developing to the point that Pickett still does and has outperformed both the second-year QB and the former first-round pick.

As much as the Steelers could use Rudolph as an insurance policy for when Pickett inevitably gets hurt, he deserves better — personally and professionally — than how Pittsburgh has treated him over the years.

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Steelers release QB Trace McSorley from practice squad

The Steelers released Trace MCSorley on Tuesday.

With Kenny Pickett fully healthy and Mason Rudolph named the starter, the Pittsburgh Steelers had one quarterback too many. So on Tuesday, the team released former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley from the practice squad.

This leaves Pickett and Rudolph along with Mitch Trubisky on the roster for this week’s playoff game against the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers added McSorley after Pickett suffered his high ankle sprain.

Pittsburgh will likely use Trubisky this week to play Josh Allen on the scout team. Trubisky has a strong familiarity with the Bills offense after his time there and is the guy who can most closely mimick Allen’s athleticism.

The Steelers and Bills square off in Buffalo at 1 PM ET on Sunday, January 14 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

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Mitch Trubisky benched for Mason Rudolph after latest struggles

The Chicago Bears had high hopes when drafting former UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who was just benched again as a Pittsburgh Steeler.

Mitch Trubisky was a great quarterback at UNC.

Despite only starting for one year (2016) in Chapel Hill, Trubisky threw for 30 touchdowns and nearly 4,000 yards. This was good enough for NFL scouts to consider him a top quarterback prospect for the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Chicago Bears took Trubisky second overall, which didn’t work out so hot in his rookie year. Trubisky threw seven touchdowns and interceptions apiece, but rebounded in Year Two and led the Bears to a Wild Card Round appearance.

His following two seasons were solid, but not enough for Chicago to bring him back in free agency. He played backup to Josh Allen in Buffalo during 2021, then was brought to Pittsburgh ahead of the 2022 campaign.

Trubisky was benched for Kenny Pickett last year due to struggles.

Those same struggles resurfaced again this year, as Trubisky was benched for Mason Rudolph in the Steelers’ Saturday loss against the Indianapolis Colts.

The former Tar Heel struggled big-time, throwing for just 169 yards, a lone touchdown and two interceptions.

This move appears to be permanent, as Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes are dangling after consecutive losses to Indy, the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals.

Unless Pickett remains injured and Rudolph struggles even more, it’s safe to say Trubisky’s time in the Steel City is over.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Steelers starting Mason Rudolph vs the Bengals

The Steelers are benching Mitch Trubisky this week.

On Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced the team is benching Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph will be the starting quarterback this week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tomlin did his best to not make this about the ineptitude of Trubisky and more about Mason earning the opportunity to start. Tomlin also said that ultimately the offense just isn’t scoring enough points and they need to make adjustments with three games left to play to keep working to play winning football.

Along those lines, Tomlin also noted that Kenny Pickett had a good workout on Monday and hasn’t ruled him out for this week. His participation will dictate his availability but for now the football belongs to Rudolph and the team is working to get him ready to take on the Bengals.

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Pittsburgh Steelers have potential out with QB Mitch Trubisky

Keeping Mitch Trubisky after the 2023 season would just be carrying dead weight.

Appearances can be deceiving. Heading into the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to have a solid quarterback room. None of their three quarterbacks were going to win MVP or even be elected to the Pro Bowl, but they were good. The staff had the utmost confidence in Kenny Pickett, and if something happened to him, things could be worse than Mitch Trubisky in a pinch. Even Mason Rudolph had experience and could do the job if disaster struck.

Fast forward 15 games, and none of the above could be further from the truth. Pickett can’t stay healthy for an entire season, and when he is in the game, the offense can’t score touchdowns. Trubisky has shown he’s no better. Rudolph wasn’t given a fair shake, having zero first-team reps, but completing two of three passes for three yards and getting sacked in the process doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for a potential start on Saturday.

Except for Pickett, everyone must go in the offseason. Trubisky nor Rudolph will challenge the former first-round pick enough to light a fire under his ass. The Steelers need to head back to the drawing board and go younger, not older. Pittsburgh missed its opportunity to bring in a truly tested veteran who could play well enough to hold onto the starting job while mentoring Pickett for a season. The unfortunate lesson was learned early: Trubisky wasn’t HIM.

According to Over the Cap, the Steelers have a potential out with the former second-overall draft pick after this season. Keeping him means $7.556 million against the cap in 2024, including a $1 million roster bonus due in March. Cutting the seven-year veteran puts $4.613 million dead money on the books but offers a cap savings of $2.943 million.

2025 would leave the Steelers with a better financial situation — $2.306 million dead money, $6 million cap savings — but no one wants to see a repeat of 2023.

Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan should cut Trubisky (Rudolph’s contract expires after this season), draft a quarterback and sign a college free agent or, at worst, a veteran who’s proven he can win.

Unfortunately, Trubisky will probably be back because cutting him would be admitting they were wrong. And we know Tomlin doesn’t like to be wrong.

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Former Steelers QB drops a hint to former team

Was Duck Hodges hitting up his former team about a job?

To say the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation is in shambles would be too kind. We aren’t sure when Kenny Pickett is coming back or if it would even help and the combination of Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph offers no hope at all.

But what about a Duck? After the team’s embarrassing 31-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, former Steelers quarterback Duck Hodges sent out the Tweet below as a not-so-subtle hint and made a little jab to his former team that he’s still available.

Hodges started six games for the Steelers in 2019. This was the season where Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the year in the team’s second game and it was Hodges and Rudolph holding down the fort. Hodges went 3-3 as a starter and Duck Fever was real in Pittsburgh for a short period of time. Would Hodges right off the street over three years out of football be better than what Pittsburgh has now? I want to say not but at this point, it’s hard to say.

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