(670 The Score) After his Bears tenure ended with a whimper and a quiet exit, new Bills quarterback Mitchell Trubisky feels more comfortable in his new setting, even though he’s filling a backup role.
"It's just really nice to be a part of a great team and be somewhere where people want you here, and they care about how you're progressing as a person, as a player,” Trubisky said Tuesday, according to ESPN.com. “It was an interesting process, but I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now, and I'm enjoying being here.”
The process that Trubisky referred to was free agency. In May 2020, the Bears declined the fifth-year option on Trubisky’s contract, setting him on a course for free agency sooner than the team would’ve expected after selecting him at No. 2 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Trubisky, 26, threw for 2,055 yards, 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions while posting a 93.5 quarterback rating in 10 games for the Bears in 2020. He made nine starts, over which Chicago went 6-3, but he never established himself as the team's franchise quarterback.
Trubisky was initially hoping that he could join an organization where he’d have a chance to start, but he soon realized that wouldn’t happen. So he chose Buffalo, where he’ll back up star Josh Allen, who recently signed a six-year extension with $150 million guaranteed and which is worth up to $258 million.
"At first, I wanted to go to a spot where I would get to compete for a starting position, but the right situation didn't come up and the opportunity wasn't there," Trubisky said, per ESPN. "I looked at the next best thing, where I could continue to develop and continue to progress and become a better player and a person and fell into this organization, and I loved it ever since coming to Buffalo.”
Acknowledging that he had plenty of opportunity with the Bears, Trubisky added that he knew well in advance that his time in Chicago was coming to a close.
"I kind of saw it coming, just the way I was progressing," he said, according to ESPN. "Year 2 was really good and then Year 3 and 4, not as good. I was dealing with some injuries and some other things going on there, but like I said, it was disappointing but it wasn't a surprise. Throughout the process, you can kind of see that they were just continuously believing in me less and less, and that's just kind of how that process went."