The first wave of free agency has ended, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have clarity on who their starting quarterback will be in 2026. They want Aaron Rodgers to return, but he still hasn’t made a decision on his future. Omar Khan and Mike McCarthy have both expressed confidence in Will Howard. And many fans want Howard to get a shot at the starting job as early as 2026, but analyst Andrew Siciliano doesn’t agree with that.
“I think we’re falling into the trap of overhyping a sixth-round pick,” Siciliano said recently on the Inside Coverage podcast. “I like Will Howard…I like him a lot. But he’s a sixth-round pick. The Steelers don’t owe him anything. It’s not Kyler [Murray] versus top-10 pick J.J. McCarthy. That’s not what we’re talking about here…It’s not as if they have some major investment in him.”
Siciliano isn’t wrong. Most quarterbacks drafted in the sixth round don’t develop into quality starters, let alone franchise players. While Howard has some nice traits, he was selected that late for a reason.
Could Howard be a decent starter one day? Maybe, but he hasn’t shown anything yet to prove that. He didn’t play at all last season, even in the preseason due to an injury. The Steelers have said they liked what they saw from him in practice, but that can’t be enough for him to walk into 2026 as the unquestioned starter.
Even if Rodgers doesn’t return, the Steelers should add competition for Howard. That could be a different veteran or a high draft pick. At least then he’d earn the starting job.
The Steelers should give Howard a lot of reps in the preseason, no matter what their quarterback situation looks like. Those reps will be important for him. Not every sixth-round quarterback is Tom Brady, though. Becoming a quality backup like Mason Rudolph would be a success for Howard.
Rodgers is 42 years old, and he got banged up last year, so if he does re-sign with the Steelers, Howard still might get a shot at regular-season action. Maybe he’ll beat the odds and prove his doubters wrong. However, his presence shouldn’t stop the Steelers from adding to their quarterback room. It’s the most important position in football, and it’s been a massive hole in Pittsburgh for years.
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