Mike McCarthy has hinted—possibly joked—that the Steelers could carry four quarterbacks. Gerry Dulac believes, for now, that they will. Now, that’s an uncommon roster construction, or rather, very uncommon. But if ever there were a year for Pittsburgh to do that, now would certainly be the year.
The Steelers’ four quarterbacks consist of a starter in his final season, an experienced veteran backup, and two very young, very inexperienced “prospects”. Aaron Rodgers is Aaron Rodgers, and he already said he’s not playing after this year. Drew Allar is a rookie third-round pick. The final question comes down to Mason Rudolph’s experience against Will Howard’s potential, and how far along he is.
If the Steelers feel good about Howard being the backup, carrying four quarterbacks almost certainly won’t happen. The sweet spot, it would seem, is Howard being too good to risk losing, but not good enough to entrust as the next man up should Rodgers go down during a season in which they believe they can win. However one formulates it in one’s head, though, Dulac is doubling down on it happening.
“Right now, I think MM [Mike McCarthy] plans to keep all four QBs”, he wrote in a recent chat session when asked how he sees the Steelers’ quarterback situation shaking out. He said it again in response to a similar question: “I believe MM is going to keep all four QBs”.
Earlier in the week, Dulac premiered his new take, saying he “will not be surprised” if the Steelers were to carry four quarterback this season and that he was warming up to the plausibility that it could actually happen. It seems in the following days that he has only strengthened his conviction on that front and now believes that is their plan.
While the quarterback position is of utmost importance, it’s still hard for the Steelers to justify carrying four of them. Roster spots are at a premium, and as it is, the third quarterback does very little. Many teams only carry two on the 53-man roster, the third sitting on the practice squad. It seems unlikely that they would risk Will Howard to the waiver wire. In theory, though, they could arrange something with Mason Rudolph.
As a vested veteran, Rudolph would not go through waivers if Pittsburgh released him. The Steelers could re-sign him to the practice squad and pay him an elevated salary as enticement, thereby retaining all four quarterbacks. In the event that they needed his veteran experience, they could elevate or promote him. But that assumes Rudolph would be amenable to that arrangement, and that he had no better opportunities. Which, well, he might not.
“You have two young guys you don’t want to cut and you have a proven veteran backup behind your 42 year old”, Dulac finally expanded on his belief of the Steelers carrying four quarterbacks. “What’s better, a fourth QB for the most important position on the team or a 10th defensive back? C’mon”.
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