Could Steelers keep four QBs on opening roster? Pros, cons for every likely scenario

· Yahoo Sports

Could the Pittsburgh Steelers really keep four quarterbacks on the opening 53-man roster?

That's how many they have on the roster now — Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Drew Allar and Will Howard — and there's a chance all of them remain on the roster when final cutdowns happen on Aug. 30. But there's also a possible workaround the Steelers could employ if they feel keeping four is too restrictive.

Visit turconews.click for more information.

Rodgers is the starter. He's set for his swan-song season, back together again with Mike McCarthy after years apart, and the only thing likely knocking Rodgers from the starting lineup is an injury — or maybe sustained poor play. Still, he's 42 years old, and there's the future to also think about.

Rudolph, last year's backup, might be the prototypical QB2. He's started games (and a playoff game) in Pittsburgh, and McCarthy recently raved about Rudolph. 

Allar was a third-round pick this year, and it's rare to see rookies drafted in the first three rounds being cut. Even most fourth-rounders make it through on draft merit alone. He's a talented thrower who has had some standout moments in camp.

Then there's Howard, last year's sixth-rounder. He's the mystery man who earned praise from McCarthy this spring — prior to the team drafting Allar. Howard missed all of last preseason and regular season with a hand injury, so Thursday's game against the Packers will actually be his NFL debut.

Play Yahoo's new College Fantasy Football game: Create or join a league now!

The Steelers might not have brought back Rodgers if they didn't think they could compete this season. Keeping four QBs could take away another potential contributor from the roster, but the Steelers also have to have insurance for their 42-year-old QB and start to think about which of the other three figure to be in the long-term picture.

How will McCarthy handle it? Here are some possible scenarios.

Of the Steelers' four quarterbacks, the one they have the least invested in is Howard. He was the 185th player taken in the 2025 NFL draft, and Mike Tomlin was head coach when that happened. McCarthy, despite his early praise for Howard, could deem the young QB the most expendable.

Howard is a big-framed quarterback with moldable traits who led Ohio State to a national championship in the 2024 season, and he played his best during the team's playoff run. He had an aggressive temperament as a college passer that worked for him and against him at times, and Howard's accuracy and consistency were two question marks in college, but there's talent there.

Rookie Drew Allar (left) and second-year QB Will Howard (right) appear to be competing for the No. 3 spot on the Steelers roster. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)Justin K. Aller via Getty Images

Would the Steelers be ready to move on from him? Getting something in return in a trade might make that decision easier, but that shouldn't be the expectation. Howard remains an unknown right now who might not earn trade attention unless he lights it up in preseason. And if that happens, are the Steelers prepared to move on from him?

Howard clearly has the most to prove now to the Steelers, and there should be ample opportunities through the rest of camp and three preseason games. Yet that still might not be enough to convince Pittsburgh it must keep him.

This feels like the least-likely scenario right now. Rudolph feels like the strongest insurance plan available at the moment. He's completed 67.5% of his passes and started nine games over the past three seasons combined. 

If Rodgers got hurt before Week 1, Rudolph would be the odds-on favorite — and perhaps a big one — to start in his place. Rodgers has played 16 or more games in seven of his past eight seasons, but he's 42 and missed all but a handful of snaps in the nightmare that was his 2023 season with the Jets. The Steelers know they need a strong Plan B if anything happens to their starter.

Rudolph is pretty cheap, too. He hits the Steelers' salary cap at $4.6 million, with a salary ($3M base, $1.6M in prorated bonuses) that isn't among the top handful of backups around the league.

Trading him is also an option for a QB-needy team, but the chances of another team giving up anything of real value for a career backup feels like wishful thinking. The Steelers are also a bit tight against the cap, and cutting or trading Rudolph would eat up some of what little space they have left.

Yet there's some strategy that could be used with Rudolph. If the Steelers theoretically cut him prior to Week 1, it would prevent them from having to guarantee Rudolph's full salary as a vested veteran. If he'd be open to it, the Steelers could cut Rudolph, sign him to the practice squad, and he could still be available Week 1 — even as the backup — via one of the two practice-squad elevations teams are allowed per week.

Eventually, the Steelers would have to make a decision on Rudolph. They can only elevate him twice more from the practice squad before he'd be required to be on the 53-man roster if they want him active on game days. But for the short term, it could possibly be the workaround they'd need to prevent Rudolph's salary from being fully guaranteed and potentially keep an early-season roster spot open for someone else.

This scenario would require some faith, as well as for Rudolph to be on board with the plan — after all, another team might want to sign him to their active roster once Rudolph is cut. It's risky but also creative and possible.

The most famous example of this would be Bill Belichick keeping four QBs on his opening roster in his first year in New England in 2000. The Patriots drafted Tom Brady and didn't want to risk losing him but also were not yet prepared to play him, so they essentially ate up a roster spot for most of that season with the hope that Brady eventually would pan out.

(Narrator: He did.)

Of course, not every Howard or Allar becomes the next Brady, so the Steelers likely would have to feel pretty darned good about both. But the four-QB strategy has been used a few times over the years by various teams.

Washington kept four QBs in 2013, the year it drafted both Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins. The Jets have done it twice in recent years, both in 2016 (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg) and in 2020 (Sam Darnold, Mike White, Joe Flacco and James Morgan), although Flacco was dealing with a shoulder injury at cutdowns. The 2018 Dolphins and the 2021 Saints also kept four to start.

It happens, although it's not terribly common, and the above examples show more misses than hits. Most teams keeping four are in something of an unusual situation.

You could argue that the Steelers' situation is unique, but it's also fairly cut and dry. Rodgers starts. Rudolph feels like the clear backup favorite. That leaves Allar, an almost sure bet to make the team, and Howard fighting for QB3 honors.

Keeping all four likely means that the Steelers feel good about all of them, especially the two young guns, and that Allar and Howard could be in line to compete for the starting job in 2027. Rodgers has said he's done after this season, and Rudolph is a free agent in the spring. That's something McCarthy must think about.

So when it comes to the Steelers' three preseason games, pay close attention to how the reps are divided and when those reps come. McCarthy has said he wants to see Rodgers play 30-40 snaps this August, which is a big change after he sat out the past two preseasons and barely played in 2023 with the Jets. That leaves about 2.5 games worth of reps to be split among the other three, and the guess is that Howard and Allar need them the most.

The most likely path to four QBs on the opening roster would involve Howard performing very well, perhaps even outplaying Allar. Would the Steelers have the roster strength to essentially forfeit an extra roster spot? That's the biggest drawback to this strategy, and it would almost suggest that the Steelers are as concerned about their QB plans next year as they are for 2026.   

Read full story at source