Steelers Not Expected to Trade QB; Will Howard, Drew Allar on Notice

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy spent the early phases of OTAs working with his quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar, but the two young players will be expected to make significant progress soon.

McCarthy was impressed by what he sees in Howard, a 2025 sixth-round pick. The Steelers are expected to choose between releasing Howard or veteran quarterback Mason Rudolph when it comes time to trip the roster to 53 players in training camp. 

The Steelers held off on signing Aaron Rodgers so that McCarthy could spend more time with Howard. At the same time, McCarthy has been rebuilding Allar, correcting mistakes that he made coming from his time at Penn State. 

Now that Rodgers is in the building for OTAs, the Steelers must adjust their plans for the quarterback position this season. Pittsburgh isn't expected to keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, and there's always the possibility the team only opts to keep two quarterbacks, while signing a third to the practice squad.

Bob Lobriola of the Steelers answered a fan's question about if there was a possibility that McCarthy would keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. Lobriola doesn't anticipate that happening.

The Steelers aren't going to spend much more time this offseason trying to develop Howard and Allar into the future starting quarterback. Pittsburgh isn't expected to trade a quarterback, because they'd rather keep the guy that shines during the preseason.

 "'Any scenario?' None that I can think of right now, because the Steelers are not going to treat the 2026 season as a months-long quarterback of the future training exercise," Labriola answered about keeping four quarterbacks.

"As for trading Will Howard or Drew Allar, the only way there might be some interest from other teams – other than a conditional third day pick – would be if one of them is very productive during the preseason. And if that would happen, I would imagine the Steelers wouldn't be interested in a trade."

The Cleveland Browns were in a similar situation last year at this time. The Browns traded Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders for a fifth-round pick in August and later traded Joe Flacco midseason.

The Steelers won't be trading Rodgers. Pittsburgh could trade Rudolph, but it's unlikely he'd (or Howard) catch even the value the Raiders gave for Pickett last season. 

After spending a Day 2 pick on Allar, it wouldn’t make sense for the Steelers to trade him in Year 1.