The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Mitch Trubisky this offseason with the expectation that the former North Carolina Tar Heel will be the franchise's starting quarterback in 2022.

Trubisky, however, isn't a long-term answer at the quarterback position for the Steelers. Instead, he's a bridge quarterback. Trubisky is basically just a placeholder for whoever Pittsburgh drafts to be the long-term answer at quarterback.

The Steelers decided to go with Trubisky instead of giving up significant draft capital to land Russell Wilson or Jimmy Garropolo in a trade.

I feel like that's an understandable decision. Wilson was expensive and Garropolo underwent shoulder surgery earlier this offseason. Signing Trubisky to a cheap deal and trying to land a quarterback in the draft is a wise approach by Pittsburgh.

Not everyone, though, agrees.

An anonymous NFL executive told The Athletic this week that he's extremely skeptical of the signing.

From The Athletic:

“I don’t see it,” an exec said. “If everyone is saying Trubisky took a step back and got some better coaching and is in a better environment, what makes us think Pittsburgh has the coaching environment to bring out the best in Trubisky now that he has a fresh start? Because last I checked, Brian Daboll is the coach of the Giants, not the Steelers.”

Trubisky’s association with Daboll, the Bills’ offensive coordinator last season, surely helped perceptions of the quarterback.

“All of a sudden, we have revitalized this guy,” another exec said of Trubisky. “He completed 6 of 8 passes for 43 yards on the season. He got in their game against Indy and threw the ball right to the defense for an interception.”

I kind of understand where the executive is coming from on this. He's right that there's nothing that happened last season while Trubisky was with the Buffalo Bills that makes anyone feel better about his abilities as a quarterback.

But that's also not the point.

Trubisky wasn't a bad quarterback before he signed with the Bills. He was completely mishandled during his time with the Chicago Bears.

The former No. 2 overall pick was on an upward trajectory in Chicago before he was benched by then-head coach Matt Nagy. Trubisky had a 25-13 record during his final 38 games as a starter with the Bears. That's not Patrick Mahomes-level, but it's not terrible, either.

Pittsburgh doesn't need Trubisky to suddenly turn into a Pro-Bowl caliber quarterback. They just need an adequate starter who won't lose games (thanks to their stellar defense).

For the price, I don't think there's a better route that the Steelers could have taken this offseason. Trubisky isn't going to blow anyone's mind in 2022, but he's also not going to sink the franchise.

And that's all Pittsburgh was banking on with this signing.

Featured image via Jamie Germano via Imagn Content Services, LLC