Steelers Could Trade Mason Rudolph As Will Howard Continues To Impress Behind Aaron Rodgers

With Aaron Rodgers returning for one last season with the Steelers, most of the focus on Pittsburgh’s upcoming season has gone to the starting quarterback. 

But at age 43, Rogers’s ability to get through a full season could fall into question, and the Steelers have a lot to sort through behind him on the depth chart. 

And it just could be the organization goes to extreme levels to protect its future depth at the position given, where Rogers is in his Hall of Fame career. 

Regardless, there will be plenty of intrigue about how the franchise handles that position this summer.

Team sources continue to indicate that new head coach Mike McCarthy is extremely pleased with the development of 2025 draft pick Will Howard, who predated his time there, and there is a strong sense that the team could regret moving him on for limited compensation to make room on the roster for no-upside veterans like Rogers and primary back-up Mason Rudolph. 

The team just used a third-round pick on potential future starting quarterback Drew Allard, and he obviously is not going anywhere.

It is difficult to carry four quarterbacks on an active roster, and trying to stash one of the young quarterbacks on the practice squad could be an invitation to another team scooping them up. 

Several people close to the situation said they don’t think it’s entirely out of the question that the Steelers keep all four.

If Push Comes To Shove

If that becomes untenable, given the issues that will invariable 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. 

Rudolph has displayed a mastery of McCarthy’s system, SportsBoom have been told, but he does not project to be a starter and is beyond the point in his career where he would have a future athletic ceiling to strive for.

Rudolph wouldn’t land much in return, but he has proven to be someone who could help a team stabilize the QB position if a starter went down with a short-term injury. Howard continues to open eyes within the franchise, and it would not be surprising if a year from now, he and Allard are vying for the starting job in Pittsburgh.