The Pittsburgh Steelers are still waiting for a decision from 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the offseason program under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy is underway on the South Side.
On top of that, the 2026 NFL Draft is now just 14 days away. Not having an answer at the most important position in sports should be creating a bit of stress and frustration, but the Steelers don’t seem to be operating that way.
There’s a belief Rodgers will give the franchise an answer in the next two weeks before the draft, but even if he doesn’t, the Steelers don’t seem in any rush to add a quarterback in free agency, or even draft one all together in the seven rounds, where they hold 12 picks.
According to ESPN’s NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller, the latest intel he’s hearing regarding the Steelers and the quarterback position is that they won’t be forced to select one in a couple weeks, regardless of Rodgers’ situation.
“The Steelers might not have a clear-cut quarterback of the future on the roster, but one internal source said that they won’t be forced to draft one this year,” Miller writes in a piece for ESPN.com. “That source noted Pittsburgh will play the board first and that Will Howard, last year’s sixth-round pick, has fans in the front office.”
There is a lot of belief in Howard within the building, that much is clear. McCarthy has spoken highly of Howard any chance he’s had, while GM Omar Khan has expressed belief in the former Ohio State signal caller, too, citing practice reps as a big reason why there’s some belief.
Though the Steelers have praised Howard a ton this offseason, they’ve also done their due diligence on a number of quarterbacks in the class, including the likes of Miami (FL)’s Carson Beck, a player many seem to believe the Steelers will draft, along with North Dakota State’s Cole Payton.
McCarthy and Khan made it clear they’re looking for “AFC North quarterbacks” featuring guys with big hands and strong arms to play in poor elements. There aren’t many of them in the draft class, though Payton is one of those guys.
He could be had on Day 2 with one of the three third-round selections the Steelers have. Same for Beck.
But with a number of needs on the roster, and the expectation Rodgers will return and start in 2026, along with the belief in Howard, there might not be a reason to draft a quarterback this year for the Steelers.
We’ll see how it all plays out. The expectation on the outside is that the Steelers will draft a quarterback. But the franchise operates to the beat of its own drum.
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