The Pittsburgh Steelers are making it look more feasible that they could keep four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster later this month, a move that would shape how the team handles Aaron Rodgers' return for one last hurrah and the depth behind him. That leaves Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar in a competition that may not be settled until the final preseason snaps.
Thursday's tilt against the Green Bay Packers starts the part of the calendar when this becomes real. Preseason action will go a long way toward sorting the quarterback room, and the next three weeks matter most for Howard, who missed all of last season with a hand injury, including preseason action, and now has to show enough to make the roster.
Howard arrives with a useful but limited resume. He was a 2025 sixth-round pick, while Allar came off the board in the third round of the 2026 draft as the Steelers built a room that now has Rodgers, Rudolph, Howard and Allar all in the same meeting. The math is simple enough: if the Steelers keep four, nobody has to go immediately, and if they keep three, one of the young quarterbacks is vulnerable before the season even begins.
That is where Rudolph complicates things. Mike McCarthy said last week, “I can't tell you how pleased I am with him,” and added that the experience Rudolph has gained is “incredibly valuable to us.” McCarthy also said, “But the footwork is different,” and, “The throws are better than I knew.” Omar Khan has backed the possibility of keeping four quarterbacks, which makes a clean exit for Rudolph harder to explain when the team is trying to protect itself against a season that could go sideways if Rodgers has to miss time.
There is also a harder edge to the roster talk. Mark Kaboly wrote over the weekend that Rudolph “isn’t getting released, cut, traded, or put on the practice squad. Full stop.” A trade would bring back a draft pick from a club looking for a veteran backup, but it would also leave the Steelers with two quarterbacks behind Rodgers who have never taken an NFL snap. That is the risk the team appears least willing to take, and it is why the coming preseason games matter more than the usual August accounting.
Howard may be the one player who can change the answer. If he flashes over the next three weeks, he likely would not make it through waivers, which gives the Steelers another reason to think carefully before they trim the room. The next few games will not just decide who plays against the Green Bay Packers and the rest of the preseason slate. They will decide whether Pittsburgh keeps the rare luxury of four quarterbacks, or whether one of the names in the room becomes the odd man out later this month.
