Ben Roethlisberger Urges Pittsburgh Steelers to Cut Mason Rudolph

Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger thinks his former team should cut Mason Rudolph.

Pittsburgh has four QBs right now: Aaron Rodgers, Will Howard, Drew Allar and Rudolph.

There's no point in having four QBs, so the Steelers should part ways with Rudolph to free up cap space.

“Personally, I think [cutting Rudolph] the smarter move,” Roethlisberger said on his podcast. “You want to have two young guys because one of those could be your potential quarterback for the next five to ten years.”  

Rudolph has one year left on his contract. He has a base salary of $3 million for next season. The Steelers should get out of his contract as soon as possible. 

Rudolph is a below-average QB. He serves no purpose on the Steelers roster. The 30-year-old has 4,925 career passing yards, 30 touchdown passes and 22 interceptions. He's played for the Steelers [twice] and Tennessee Titans. 

There might be a team desperate for a No. 2 QB. The Steelers have to find that team and offer them Rudolph, who won't play in 2026 in Pittsburgh.

If Pittsburgh can't trade Rudolph, cutting him would be the next logical move.

Should Rodgers get hurt next season, Allar and Howard are ahead of Rudolph on the depth chart. 

Rodgers put up 3,322 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. The future Hall of Famer completed 65.7% of his passes.

The Steelers won the AFC North in 2025, but they lost to the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the playoffs. 

Pittsburgh helped Rodgers this offseason by acquiring Michael Pittman Jr. from the Indianapolis Colts. Rodgers will target Pittman Jr., Robert Tonyan, D.K. Metcalf, Darnell Washington, Pat Freiermuth and Roman Wilson next season.

"I think we were close last year," Rodgers said. "I think we added some good pieces. I felt like we needed a lineman probably at some point, drafted a guy in the first round that I like. I thought we needed somebody who could work in the slot. Obviously, Germie (Bernard), being picked there, is a guy they think can do it. Bring in (Michael) Pittman, was obviously a good addition. Rico Dowdle, Jamel (Dean) on defense. (Jaquan) Brisker as well, so a lot of good pieces added to the mix." 

Rodgers hasn't won a playoff game since the 2020 season, while the Steelers haven't won a postseason game since the 2016 season. It will be intriguing to see how Rodgers and Co. perform in 2026.