The Pittsburgh Steelers have provided themselves with a unique yet crowded room of quarterbacks for the 2026 season. Down the line, it may lead to some tough decisions as the team begins to cut down towards the 53-man roster. But to NFL insider Jason La Canfora, all four may remain safe during that process.
“Several people close to the situation said they don’t think it’s entirely out of the question that the Steelers keep all four,” La Canfora wrote in an article for SportsBoom published this week.
Of the four, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Allar are easily the safest bets, essentially guaranteed to make the roster. The former will be the starter, and despite some speculation, Allar won’t be going anywhere after being taken in the third round this year. It’s between Will Howard and Mason Rudolph where things get much more interesting.
Howard had a lot of hype during training camp last summer. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that forced him to miss the entire preseason, and as a result, his potential going forward remains unclear. But he’s receiving no shortage of praise from Mike McCarthy so far. Getting a large share of reps during OTAs and minicamp, he’s getting his chance to prove himself to a new coaching staff this year.
That abundance of reps is coming at the cost of Rudolph, who’s seen his own share decrease. Of all the quarterbacks, the Steelers know about Rodgers and him the most. Which is part of the reason he’s seeing his name in so much speculation recently. When you know you have a limited ceiling in a veteran backup, it becomes harder to keep him around. Especially with a veteran starter and two young options already on the roster.
However, recognizing one of the four might not make the cut, La Canfora can see one name being shopped.
“If that becomes untenable, given the issues that will invariably arise at other positions and how carrying four passers could compromise the team’s depth elsewhere, at this point a trade of Rudolph seems more likely than Howard,” La Canfora wrote.
In an ideal world, quarterback whisperer Mike McCarthy would love to keep all four. Potentially, there is a route for that to happen. The Steelers do have a lot of positional versatility on both sides of the ball. Maybe they value that enough that one position sees some depth sacrificed to keep all four around. Having a proven spot starter in Rudolph, while keeping the two youngsters, would be nice. And there is risk in trying to slide any of them onto the practice squad.
But in today’s NFL, there’s a reason we rarely see four quarterbacks on one 53-man roster. The latter two probably won’t see game action, which will hurt depth at another position. But La Canfora doesn’t think it’s a guarantee just yet.
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