Steelers four quarterbacks
Steelers four quarterbacks
The roster cutdown deadline has come and gone, and all NFL teams have whittled their rosters down to 53 players. For the Steelers, the biggest question mark was whether they would keep four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster.
The Steelers decided to keep all four quarterbacks, and they weren’t the only team to do so. The Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons all kept four quarterbacks, as NFL insider Ari Meirov laid out.
Four teams kept 4 QBs on their initial 53-man roster:
• Eagles: Jalen Hurts, Tanner McKee, Andy Dalton, Cole Payton
• Falcons: Tua Tagovailoa, Michael Penix Jr., Cooper Rush, Jack Strand
• Steelers: Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Drew Allar
• Vikings: Kyler… pic.twitter.com/X0k21aXq9O
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 30, 2026
Just because a team has four quarterbacks on the initial 53 doesn’t mean they’ll all carry four quarterbacks to Week 1. The Steelers, for example, kept four quarterbacks initially last year before putting QB Will Howard on IR after cutdown day.
But it’s still notable that this many teams kept four quarterbacks. The last team that kept four quarterbacks heading into Week 1 was the 2018 Miami Dolphins, who kept Ryan Tannehill, Brock Osweiler, Luke Falk and David Fales. It appears that for the first time in eight years, at least one team will go into Week 1 with four quarterbacks, if not more.
That last "53-man roster" that had 4 true QBs on it to start a season seems to have been in 2018 and the Dolphins.
Ryan Tannehill
Brock Osweiler
Luke Faulk
David Fales#Steelers #NFL https://t.co/bWuWld8MUp pic.twitter.com/kbdvpa0u6T
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) August 20, 2026
For the Steelers, it feels quite likely that will be the case. The team could choose to put Will Howard on IR after he was evaluated for a head injury after the preseason finale, but that’s a decision that would cost him practice time. There’s been no indication that’s something the team is considering. It would be the first time since 1999 the Steelers carried four quarterbacks for the season if that winds up being the case.
As the value of the quarterback position has continued to rise, teams seem to be prioritizing keeping younger quarterbacks they feel they can develop. For the Steelers, that’s the case with Allar and Howard. The Falcons kept an undrafted free agent rookie in Strand, while the Eagles kept a rookie in Payton. The Vikings kept Brosmer, who was undrafted last season but made two starts and seven appearances as a rookie while the Vikings dealt with injuries at quarterback.
Injuries could be a reason why the Falcons kept four quarterbacks, with QB Michael Penix Jr. recently cleared to return from an ACL injury. For the Vikings, Kyler Murray is coming off a season-ending foot injury.
Keeping four quarterbacks has been viewed as a questionable practice because it limits depth and flexibility at other positions where teams use more players. But with teams looking to the future and seeing how costly injuries to a starting quarterback can be, having more options and players to develop could become a popular trend across the league.