NEWS
Pittsburgh Keeps Four Quarterbacks and Still Lacks a Successor
Pittsburgh kept Rodgers, Rudolph, Howard and Allar on the 53, a four-quarterback bet that still leaves the 2027 starting job open.
The Pittsburgh Steelers put four quarterbacks on their 53-man roster on Aug. 30, including a rookie who will not dress on Sundays. Aaron Rodgers, 42, will start what he has called his final season, with Mason Rudolph behind him, Will Howard as the emergency passer, and Drew Allar as the extra name on a list that no longer has room for another veteran defender.
Coach Mike McCarthy said all four had earned spots. The typical initial roster around the league still carried two or three passers. Four clubs opened cutdown day with four, and Minnesota cut one the next afternoon.
Four Quarterbacks Now Sit on a 53-Man Roster
Pittsburgh reached the mandatory 53-man roster by 6 p.m. ET on Aug. 30 with Rodgers, Rudolph, Howard and Allar all on it. Rudolph is the backup who will dress. Howard is the likely emergency third. Allar, the 76th pick in April, is the one who will sit in street clothes.
THE FOUR PASSERS ON THE 53
| Quarterback | How he arrived | Preseason | Week 1 job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Rodgers | 2005 first-round pick, age 42 | Did not play | Starter, final season |
| Mason Rudolph | 2018 third-round pick, No. 76 | 10 of 11, 93 yards vs. Green Bay, then sat | Dresses as QB2 |
| Will Howard | 2025 sixth-round pick, No. 185 | 26 of 39, 229 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT | Emergency QB3 |
| Drew Allar | 2026 third-round pick, No. 76 | 30 of 54, 351 yards; 10 of 13 vs. Green Bay | Inactive QB4 |
That last row is the roster math. Two passers dress. A third can wait as the emergency option. The fourth is a 53-man body who cannot play unless the depth chart in front of him collapses, and even then the emergency slot is already spoken for.
McCarthy Called the Four-Man Room Accurate
After a 28-27 preseason loss at Buffalo on Aug. 27, McCarthy was asked whether all four quarterbacks had shown enough to make the club. He called that “a very accurate evaluation.”
I feel good about the quarterback room. I’ve been saying it for quite some time, and they’ve showed it on the field. We got two veterans that we can win with, and we got two young guys that we’re excited about the future.
Mike McCarthy, Steelers head coach, after the preseason finale against Buffalo
He had been building toward that answer since May, when he said the club had “four that we love” and joked that general manager Omar Khan might expand the roster to 55. Khan did not get two extra spots. The four still made it, which is a choice McCarthy had not made on a Week 1 roster in his previous seasons as a head coach.
Ben Roethlisberger, the last long-term Steelers starter, argued on the Footbahlin podcast that Howard and Allar could not go to the practice squad because another club would claim them. “You’re either keeping all four or you try to put Mason on practice squad and see if you can find a way to keep him,” he said. Pittsburgh kept Rudolph too.
The Job Howard Could Not Take From Rudolph
The clean version of this summer had Howard winning the backup job so Rudolph could be moved. Howard, who led Ohio State to the 2024 national title and then spent his rookie year on injured reserve after a hand fracture, never took a regular-season snap. McCarthy said in May that Howard was ahead of Allar only because he had been in the building longer.
Rudolph, 31, closed that door in the first preseason game. On Aug. 13 against Green Bay he completed 10 of 11 passes for 93 yards in 19 snaps in a 28-9 win, then sat the Jets game on Aug. 21 and the Bills game on Aug. 27, the usual tell that a veteran’s roster spot is safe. McCarthy said he had seen what he needed from Rudolph in the spring.
Howard started those last two exhibitions. Against Buffalo he went 9 of 15 for 69 yards with two touchdown passes, one interception and three sacks, then left to be evaluated for a head injury and did not speak to reporters. He still made the 53. Across the preseason he threw for 229 yards, two scores and three interceptions on 26 of 39 passing. That is not a backup-winning tape, and it is why Rudolph will be the one holding the clipboard if Rodgers comes off the field.
Allar, 6-foot-5 and 228 pounds out of Penn State, was the more stable young passer on the nights he played. He went 10 of 13 for 153 yards with two passing scores and a rushing touchdown against Green Bay, then finished 30 of 54 for 351 yards. Kurt Benkert, a former NFL quarterback, had argued in mid-August that Pittsburgh should keep Howard and Allar and move Rudolph. The staff did the reverse on the depth chart and kept all three behind Rodgers anyway.
What the Extra Passer Cost on Cutdown Day
A fourth quarterback is not free. It is one fewer player at a position that actually rotates on Sunday, and the same afternoon Pittsburgh also moved two former high draft picks and released a veteran linebacker who had just signed in the offseason.
The Jones and Johnson Trades
The club sent offensive tackle Broderick Jones, the 14th pick in 2023, and a 2027 fourth-round choice to Dallas for a 2027 third and a 2027 sixth. Jones had started 38 of 45 games in three seasons, including 11 in 2025 before a late injured-reserve stint. Running back Kaleb Johnson, the 83rd pick in 2025, went to Green Bay for a 2028 sixth after 28 carries for 69 yards in 10 games. Those deals were about value and the offensive line as much as the quarterback room, but they left Jaylen Warren, Rico Dowdle and seventh-round rookie Eli Heidenreich as the only running backs on the initial 53.
A Linebacker Spot Lost on Sunday
The defensive cuts were the sharper tradeoff. Pittsburgh released Elandon Roberts and Malik Harrison at linebacker and Dean Lowry on the defensive line, among other veterans, while keeping every one of its 10 draft picks from April, Allar included. Roberts is the name that makes the fourth passer look expensive, because Allar can be developed on the 53 without playing, and a linebacker who is released cannot cover a snap in Week 1.
SUNDAY MOVES BESIDE THE QUARTERBACKS
- Jones trade: The 2023 first-round tackle and a 2027 fourth went to Dallas for a 2027 third and sixth.
- Johnson trade: The 2025 third-round back went to Green Bay for a 2028 sixth-round pick.
- Roberts, Harrison, Lowry: Two linebackers and a defensive lineman were released as the club got to 53.
- Full draft class: All 10 of the 2026 picks, including Allar and Heidenreich, made the initial roster.
- Porter activated: Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. came off the physically unable to perform list onto the 53.
Keeping the young passers off waivers is a real concern, and it is also the tell. Clubs do not burn a 53-man slot on a fourth quarterback when they already know who is playing the position next fall.
The Emergency Rule Explains Three, Not Four
Since 2023, a club may list an extra passer as inactive and bring him in only if the two active quarterbacks are hurt or ejected. The emergency third quarterback must be on the 53 and cannot be a practice-squad elevate in that role. That rule is why three quarterbacks on the roster is now ordinary insurance. It is not why a fourth name is there.
On game day Pittsburgh can dress Rodgers and Rudolph, designate Howard as the emergency passer, and leave Allar among the ordinary inactives. Allar’s four-year deal worth $7,103,408 carries a 2026 cap number of $1,291,529, cheap by the position’s standards, which is the other half of the bet. Rudolph’s $4,622,500 salary-cap charge on a two-year, $7,500,000 contract signed in 2025 is the veteran premium for someone who has already won games here, including a three-game streak that pushed the club into the 2023 playoffs. Cutting him now would create $1,622,500 in dead money.
Atlanta, Philadelphia and, for one day, Minnesota made the same four-man bet. The Falcons are still sorting Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. The Eagles kept Andy Dalton and Tanner McKee because neither won the job behind Jalen Hurts. Minnesota waived Max Brosmer on Aug. 31 and went back to three. Across all 32 initial rosters the average was 2.75 quarterbacks. Pittsburgh is in the thin group that still does not trust the next man up enough to expose him.
2027 Still Has No Named Starter
Rodgers has said this is the last year. Rudolph hits free agency in 2027. Howard and Allar have never taken a regular-season snap. McCarthy’s staff has been rewriting Allar’s mechanics since the spring, and the coach’s own history is to keep drafting passers until one becomes the franchise quarterback. Next April’s draft is already being discussed around the building as another chance to add one.
HOW THE ROOM FILLED UP
- 2018: Pittsburgh drafts Rudolph 76th overall out of Oklahoma State.
- 2025: Howard arrives 185th overall after the Ohio State title; Rudolph signs the two-year deal.
- April 24, 2026: Allar is taken 76th overall, the pick that came from Dallas in the George Pickens trade, after 7,402 college yards, 61 touchdowns and 13 interceptions at Penn State.
- May 2026: McCarthy says he has four quarterbacks the staff loves and wants to keep.
- July 24, 2026: Allar signs last among the club’s 10 draft picks.
- Aug. 13 to 27, 2026: Rudolph wins the backup look in one game; Howard and Allar play the rest, and Howard is checked for a head injury in Buffalo.
- Aug. 30, 2026: All four names survive the 6 p.m. cut.
Allar and Rudolph sharing the 76th pick eight years apart is a coincidence the building will live with for a year. It is also a reminder that the last time Pittsburgh spent that slot on a quarterback, it got a backup, not a successor. Howard was supposed to be the cheaper, more polished path after sitting in 2025. He is still behind Rudolph. The open job in 2027 is the entire point of keeping both young passers, and it is still open.
Atlanta Comes to Pittsburgh on September 13
The regular season opens with the Falcons at Steelers on September 13 at 1 p.m. ET, 14 days after the roster closed. That extra gap was built so the league could stage a Week 1 game in Australia, and it leaves time for claims, practice-squad shuffling and a late change of heart. Minnesota already used some of that time. Pittsburgh has not.
WHAT WE KNOW
- The 53: Rodgers, Rudolph, Howard and Allar are all on the initial roster.
- The jobs: Rodgers starts, Rudolph dresses, Howard is the emergency option, Allar is inactive.
- The opener: Atlanta visits on Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. ET.
WHAT IS UNCONFIRMED
- Howard’s head check: He was still being evaluated after the Bills game and later made the 53; his Week 1 availability as the emergency passer has not been separately announced.
- A midseason trim: The initial 53 can still change before kickoff, and again if an injury or a waiver claim forces a choice among the four.
- The 2027 starter: None of Rudolph, Howard or Allar has been named the successor, and another drafted quarterback remains on the table.
On Sept. 13, Rodgers will take the first snap. Rudolph will stand behind him with a sheet. Howard will wait in the emergency slot. Allar will be in street clothes, on the 53, with the 2027 job still unclaimed.
