The Pittsburgh Steelers have an uncertain situation at the starting quarterback position because of Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers has yet to decide what he's going to do next season, whether that be return to Pittsburgh, play for another team, or retire.
As far as the rest of the quarterbacks room, the Steelers are expected to keep Will Howard and Mason Rudolph, no matter what Rodgers does.
However, The Athletic's Zack Roseblatt doesn't see it that way and instead he sees the Steelers parting ways with both Howard and Rudolph in favor of drafting Garrett Nussmeier to serve as Rodgers' backup in 2026.
Here's Rosenblatt's take on his predicted Steelers quarterbacks room:
If Rodgers is the quarterback, the Steelers then need to decide if Will Howard is good enough to develop as his future replacement or if there is a rookie out there worth bringing in to learn behind one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier would be an interesting target in the second round, where the Steelers pick 53rd. He is similar in size to Rodgers and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote that he is a “strong-armed passer who can efficiently deliver from various arm slots without sacrificing velocity. He can make any throw he wants and isn’t shy about testing quickly expiring windows.” Nussmeier's father, Doug, is a long-time college and NFL coach who worked under new Steelers head coach McCarthy when the two were in Dallas.
Nussmeier is widely considered a top-five quarterback in this year's draft class after a collegiate career that saw him complete 64% of his passes for 7,699 yards and 52 touchdowns to 24 picks.
The LSU product should be on the board on Day 2, and with the Steelers projected to have four picks on that day, and with the team not having a locked-in long-term solution under center, we could see them pick Nussmeier with one of those picks.
As far as cutting ties with Howard and Rudolph is concerned, the Steelers should not be in the habit of letting young quarterbacks go given their current situation.
Knowing that, Pittsburgh should hold on to Howard and see what he has after a season in which he didn't see the field in the preseason or regular season.
When it comes to Rudolph, the book is already written on the veteran signal-caller and there's zero chance he's going to be the future in Pittsburgh, so we have no issue with the Steelers cutting or trading him.
We would love the approach of the Steelers bringing Rodgers back and having two young quarterbacks sitting behind him. That would give Pittsburgh a chance to win now while also providing some hope for the future.
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