Mitch Trubisky gets another chance to start — in Pittsburgh

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky’s second act with the first string will be in Pittsburgh.

The Bears’ 2017 first-round pick agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Steelers on Monday, the first day teams were able to negotiate with player agents, a source confirmed. The move can’t be made official until the start of the league year Wednesday. But when it happens, Trubisky will get an opportunity he wasn’t afforded last year — to prove he can start.

It’s the best situation Trubisky could have hoped for, offering him the stability — and the offensive skill players — the Bears never could from 2017 to 2020.

If Trubisky succeeds, he’d help prove that former coach Matt Nagy was more to blame for the Bears’ offensive struggles. For that and other reasons, Chicago will be watching.

Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement at the end of the season left the Steelers with Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins and Josh Dobbs on their roster. None of those quarterbacks has a better résumé than Trubisky, who won 29 of 50 starts with the Bears and reached the playoffs twice.

Trubisky even has a chance to be an immediate upgrade over a faded Roethlisberger, who averaged only 6.3 yards per pass in 2020 and 6.2 last year. He’ll be surrounded by a roster that was good enough to reach the playoffs the last two years and play for Mike Tomlin, perhaps the most-respected coach in the league.

Trubisky will make $14.25 million total — or up to $27 million after incentives, according to NFL Network. The Steelers can still draft a quarterback with the 20th overall pick next month. But Trubisky is positioned better than he could have dreamed a year ago, when he found no starting opportunities in free agency after the Bears refused to pick up his fifth-year option.

He signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal to be the Bills’ backup. Despite throwing only eight passes all season, he emerged as an attractive option for the increasing number of teams looking to fill their starting jobs. After a year of anonymity, he’ll have a chance to rehab his reputation, which was adversely affected by comparisons with quarterbacks taken after him in the draft: Patrick -Mahomes, the Chiefs’ all-world star, and Deshaun Watson.