With Aaron Rodgers’ future uncertain, the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly prepared to bypass veteran backups and hand the offense to rookie Will Howard if the future Hall-of-Famer departs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have leaving open the possibility that Aaron Rodgers will reunite with the team and his former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy this offseason.
Rodgers has yet to give the Steelers confirmation on whether he plans to retire or return to the league for the 2026 season.
In the meantime, the Steelers finished with their rookie minicamp this weekend and have voluntary minicamp coming up later this month. Pittsburgh must focus on getting a starting quarterback ready for the regular season, Rodgers or not.
The Steelers have three quarterbacks on the 90-man roster: Will Howard, Mason Rudolph and Drew Allar.
Per Jason La Canfora of Sports Boom, the Steelers are expected to turn to Howard if Rodgers chooses not to return.
"Regardless, the Steelers are very excited about the development of 2025 draft pick Will Howard, league sources said, and while some have written that off as hype, we continue to hear that new head coach Mike McCarthy is already a fan of his and he will have a very real chance to compete for a starting job if Rodgers is not back," Canfora wrote.
"That could be because Rodgers retires or the team just opts to move on because his timeline doesn’t fit theirs."
The Steelers are not planning to bring on another veteran quarterback if Rodgers retires or goes elsewhere.
All, a third-round pick by the Steelers this year, is too far behind in his development to become a starter this season.
"The Steelers used a mid-round pick on Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, but that is a developmental play and the organization realized if he is going to be starting quality it would be in 2027 or beyond," Canfora wrote.
"There is no rush to see him on the field before then."
During rookie minicamp, Allar admitted that he was still learning the new terminology of the offense and was working to correct his footwork, a notable issue for him during his career at Penn State.
Allar needs to work on his footwork and becoming a more consistent passer before the Steelers will start him in an NFL game.