Chicago Bears Countdown to Kickoff: 10 Days with Mitchell Trubisky

Mitchell Trubisky's Chicago Bears legacy and career elsewhere in NFL

During the next offseason, Trubisky became a free agent due to the team denying his fifth-year option the previous summer. Despite performing better than Foles throughout the season, the team looked towards adding a new franchise quarterback, which they would eventually do by drafting Justin Fields. Trubisky's time with the Chicago Bears was over, but despite being the metaphorical poster child for a flawed era, he does not receive the credit for what he was able to accomplish in his short time as the Navy and Orange's starting quarterback.

In 2018, Trubisky became the team's first Pro Bowl quarterback since Jim McMahon in the Super Bowl-winning 1985 season. His 10,609 passing yards are the fifth most in team history, but amongst the group, he is the only player to be with the team for less than seven seasons. Similarly, Trubisky is fifth in franchise passing touchdowns under the same conditions. He is also the only quarterback since Jim Harbaugh to lead the team to the playoffs twice as the full-time starting quarterback.

After not re-signing with the team, Trubisky entered free agency and signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he would back up Josh Allen. He played sparingly, throwing only eight passes throughout the year, but upon becoming a free agent once again before the 2022 season, Trubisky signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he was able to compete for a starting spot.

The Steelers would eventually use their first-round pick to draft Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett, but Trubisky battled throughout training camp and became the team's day-one starter. Through the first four weeks of the season, Trubisky played fairly well, but with a 1-2 record entering their game against the New York Jets, the team turned the offense over to Pickett for the remainder of the season. Trubisky played late in the year due to injuries to the rookie, and the former Bear finished the season with 1,252 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Today, Trubisky is entering his seventh professional season and his second with the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the regular season on the horizon, Trubisky currently sits second on the quarterback depth chart. Hopefully, Trubisky will not have to play much this season if Pickett has a healthy and productive sophomore campaign, but the former second-overall pick may get an opportunity in the future to command an offense. With teams anxious to find a talented quarterback, Trubisky skill has many physical skills that several coaches could find desirable.

Recently, players such as Geno Smith, Brock Purdy, and Jared Goff have proven that teams are willing to give unassuming players chances, and even second or third chances, to hit their potential on the gridiron. Hopefully, either with the Steelers or another team, Trubisky will earn an opportunity to start once again in his career. With good weapons and coaching, he may be able to do enough to help a team compete for the playoffs as he did in Chicago.