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Mitchell Trubisky has been immensely criticized throughout his career, which is warranted given the Chicago Bears traded up one spot to select him — over Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. Trubisky is on a new team with the Buffalo Bills, but holds one mark none of the top-five quarterbacks selected over the past 10 years want to achieve.
Since the rookie wage scale was introduced in 2011 — which includes fifth-year player options for first-round picks — Trubisky is the lone top-five quarterback to have his fifth-year option declined. This comes off the heels of the Cleveland Browns exercising the option for Baker Mayfield (the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft) Friday.
Trubisky’s career with the Bears was an interesting one. He completed 64% of his passes for 10,609 yards with 64 touchdowns to 37 interceptions in his first four seasons (87.2 rating), while rushing for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns. Trubisky was the fastest Bears quarterback to top 10,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing (49 games). He holds franchise records for career passer rating, completion percentage and season completion percentage (tied, 67% in 2020).
Trubisky has an argument as one of the best quarterbacks in Bears history, but his numbers against the rest of the NFL quarterbacks are subpar. Of the 47 quarterbacks with more than 500 pass attempts over the last four years, Trubisky ranks 41st in passer rating, 26th in completion percentage, 29th in touchdown percentage (4.1), and 37th in yards per attempt (6.73). Not exactly franchise-quarterback material.
The Bills signed Trubisky this offseason to back up Josh Allen, marking the end of his tenure with the Bears. Sam Darnold, now with the Carolina Panthers, could join Trubisky on this distinctive list if Carolina doesn’t pick up his fifth-year option before May 3. GM Scott Fitterer told reporters on Friday that decision won’t come until after the draft is completed. The Panthers might still be considering taking a quarterback with the No. 8 pick.
Trubisky’s failure with the Bears is a cautionary tale, but also demonstrates how rare it is for a top-five quarterback not to earn his second contract with a team.