If Aaron Rodgers retires, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have one of the most expensive wide receiver rooms in the league with no obvious answer to who will throw them the ball. So what’s Plan B? According to Adam Schefter, Will Howard and Mason Rudolph.
“Let’s just for a moment operate in a universe in which [Rodgers] decides that he doesn’t want to come back, and I think they’re hopeful and optimistic. But if he doesn’t, I think that where they go from there, people won’t love this, but I think they believe that they have a quarterback prospect in Will Howard,” Schefter said Tuesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “It’s hard to bank your whole season on a quarterback we haven’t seen play in the regular season, but they believe they have something in Will Howard, and they believe Mike McCarthy’s strength is developing good, young, smart quarterbacks.”
"[The Steelers] are hoping Aaron Rodgers comes back, and if he doesn't, they would then be prepared to have Will Howard and Mason Rudolph on the roster. … It's the reason that I think they don't feel rushed and compelled to go out and add anybody right now."
—@AdamSchefter on… pic.twitter.com/u0zpVj2KXT
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) March 10, 2026
The rest of the Get Up panel had a hard time hiding the disgust on their face at the idea of leaving the season to a sixth-round player who hasn’t even seen the field in a preseason game yet. It’s hard to blame them, either, especially since the Steelers aren’t making roster moves as if they are in a rebuild. They still have one of the most expensive defenses in the league and just added three notable players on the first day of legal tampering.
One thing seems certain at this point. The Howard hype isn’t just lip service in Pittsburgh. Mike McCarthy, Omar Khan, and even Aaron Rodgers all have gone out of their way to speak highly of the young player — sometimes completely unprovoked.
“I’m just telling you what they think,” Schefter said, sensing the other panelists’ disgust. “It doesn’t mean they wouldn’t add another quarterback, but they’re hoping Rodgers comes back and if he doesn’t, they would then be prepared to have Will Howard and Mason Rudolph on the roster. It’s the reason that I think they don’t feel rushed and compelled to go out and add anybody right now.”
Many in Pittsburgh were hoping the Steelers would sign a young exciting quarterback like Malik Willis. He agreed to a three-year contract with the Miami Dolphins, and options like Tua Tagovailoa were quick to agree to terms elsewhere for the league minimum. There are still veteran options if the Steelers want to go that way.
Jason La Canfora reported that Kirk Cousins is the backup plan if Rodgers retires. But if the Steelers really like Howard as much as they say, somebody like Joe Flacco could make sense as a veteran bridge to allow Howard to potentially ease into a starting role.
With all the Howard chatter both inside the building and from insiders around the league, it’s a matter of when—not if—Howard eventually gets a starting opportunity in Pittsburgh.
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