Feb 24, 2023 4 min read

Why do people seem to be in such a hurry for the Steelers to get rid of Mitch Trubisky?

Sure, he will count $10.6 million against the team’s salary cap in 2023. But the Steelers knew that would be the case when they signed him in free agency a year ago.

They also knew at that time there was a chance they would select a quarterback in the first round of the draft, which they did in Kenny Pickett.

What they didn’t know was that Pickett would surpass Trubisky as the starting quarterback in early October.

That’s something nobody could have known, not even head coach Mike Tomlin or team president Art Rooney II.

“I think that normally you don’t go into the season saying, ‘OK, we’re going to start the rookie,'” Rooney said. “That’s kind of not what I had in mind, and I don’t think it’s what Mike (Tomlin) expected. So, the way it turned out turned out pretty good I think, given the fact that we probably didn’t expect to have Kenny as our starter Week 1.”

But he most certainly is now.

Given that Pickett missed time twice with concussions in 2022 and the fact he’s slated to count just $3.2 million against the salary cap, the Steelers can certainly afford to have a higher-priced backup quarterback on the roster.

Then, there’s also the fact that NFL teams started a league-record 68 different quarterbacks in 2022.

That’s an average of more than two per team. Nine teams started three quarterbacks and three teams used at least four different starters.

Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted a few weeks ago at his annual Super Bowl press conference that the NFL is being much quicker to pull a player who takes a hit to head, even if they aren’t suffering from concussion symptoms.

And, despite the feeling that Pickett should be much better in his second season than he was in his first, he’s still a largely unproven commodity.

Given all of those things, there’s a good chance that whomever the Steelers’ backup quarterback is in 2023 will wind up playing at least a little bit.

Wouldn’t it make sense for that player to be Trubisky, who performed well when called upon in that role in 2022 rather than starting over with someone else?

• All of that being said, if another team comes in and makes the Steelers a trade offer for Trubisky, they should listen.

But anything less than a fourth-round pick wouldn’t get it done.

After all, the Steelers always take four quarterbacks to training camp. If they divest themselves of Trubisky, Pickett would be the only quarterback on the roster, meaning they would need to add three more.

And the savings for not having Trubisky on the roster would only be $8 million. Much, if not all, of that savings would be spent filling out the quarterback room.

• The most overrated aspect of the NFL Scouting Combine, which will be held next week in Indianapolis, Ind., is the 40-yard dash times of the prospects.

If a guy looks fast on the football field, he’s probably going to run well. If not, well, he’s probably not that fast.

But speed isn’t everything. Of the 17 players since 2003 who have registered a 40 time of less than 4.3 seconds, only two have made a Pro Bowl.

Meanwhile, the Chargers’ Keenan Allen, who timed at 4.71 seconds in the 40, has caught 796 passes for 9,287 yards and 54 touchdowns.

That’s more catches than all the receivers who ran sub-4.3 seconds in the 40 at the Combine have combined.

• Derek Shelton was salty when asked by reporters at the Pirates’ spring training camp about Ke’Bryan Hayes not winning a Gold Glove last season despite leading Major League third basemen in defensive metrics.

But more often than not, the Gold Glove doesn’t just go to the best defensive player. It goes to the best defensive player who also hits well.

And the fact is, a .244 batting average with seven home runs isn’t going to get it done.

Nolan Arenado won his 10th gold glove, hitting .293 with 30 home runs.

Hayes had added some muscle mass for this season, putting on 15 pounds. But that also might affect his range.

Even so, unless he can get his home run total up to at least 15, he’s probably not knocking off Arenado, despite being the better overall defender.