Buffalo Rumblings
Will he keep his job, or will the salary cap lead to his exit from town?
The Buffalo Bills don’t need to worry about finding their starting quarterback. That’s a nice place to be in the NFL, as any team with an elite starter at the game’s most important position is a threat to win the Super Bowl each year. While the Bills haven’t been able to dethrone Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, they have consistently been the team that gives the Chiefs trouble over the last few years.
Finding a backup quarterback, on the other hand, could lead different people to search for different qualities. Should the Bills have a young player that they could develop into a suitable replacement for a unicorn at quarterback in the event of an injury? Should they train a young player and showcase him for trade? Should they maintain a veteran room that keeps the vibes positive? And what consideration should the team give for the salary cap when making that decision?
In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss a backup quarterback whose main issue is likely that final question listed above.
Name: Mitchell Trubisky
Number: 11
Position: QB
Height/Weight: 6’3”, 222 pounds
Age: 30 (31 on 8/20/2025)
Experience/Draft: 9; selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round (No. 2 overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft
College: North Carolina
Acquired: Re-signed with Buffalo on 3/7/2024
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Trubisky enters the final year of his two-year, $5.25 million contract. For the 2025 season, he carries a cap hit of $3.25 million if he makes the team. Buffalo will carry a dead-cap charge of $750,000 if he’s released before Week 1. Since Trubisky is a vested veteran, his entire base salary ($2.46 million) becomes fully guaranteed if he’s on the 53-man roster for the first week of the season.
2024 Recap: Trubisky returned for his second stint in Buffalo after spending two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He saw mop-up action in nine games, spending most of that time kneeling or handing the ball off to bleed the clock in eventual Buffalo victories.
He completed 19-of-26 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns — a 69-yard score to Tyrell Shavers in Week 16 against the New York Jets, and a two-yard score to Ray Davis the following week against the New England Patriots. Technically, Trubisky had 17 rushing attempts for one yard, but again, most of those “attempts” were kneel-downs at the end of games.
Positional outlook: Trubisky is one of four quarterbacks on the roster. Josh Allen, Mike White, and Shane Buechele are the others.
2025 Offseason: Trubisky is healthy and participating in training camp. He has predominantly run the second-team offense.
2025 Season outlook: The only way Trubisky isn’t on the team in September is if the Bills decide that the money they save by cutting him is better spent elsewhere. Trubisky isn’t the guy you want starting 17 games at quarterback, but...
