The Pittsburgh Steelers have a ton of question marks going into the 2026 season, with hard roster decisions and the need to find an entirely new coaching staff. The Steelers will have some cap casualties on defense, but the offense is in an odd spot. The team will almost certainly add a wide receiver or two via the NFL Draft, and/or free agency. The offensive line is young and on the rise, and roster possesses great tight ends. The only position with seemingly no solution is the quarterback position. Aaron Rodgers is unlikely to return for the 2026 season, and the only quarterbacks under contract are Mason Rudolph and Will Howard.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Will Howard leads the huddle during rookie minicamp in 2025.
The Steelers have proven they have been unable to successfully fully develop a quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2021. They drafted Kenny Pickett and signed Mitch Trubisky in hopes of filling the shoes of the future Hall of Famer. Those moves flopped miserably. Trubisky was benched after just three and a half games. While Pickett showed flashes in his rookie season, he also proved that he wasn't the answer eventually either.
The Steelers cycled through more veteran quarterbacks, such as Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, and Rodgers, being the most recent. All of these quarterbacks got the Steelers to the same place, 10-7 with a Wild Card Round playoff exit. Roethlisberger eventually spoke on his podcast, Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, where he gave a very interesting take on what the Steelers should do at quarterback.
"I would not draft a quarterback in 2-3 years. That's just my opinion..." Roethlisberger said. "The issue that I see with a lot of teams is they get a quarterback, and they try to build around that quarterback. I think it should be the other way around. I think you should build a team and put your quarterback in it."
The NFL has had a major problem with quarterback development. There have been a ton of quarterback draft busts. While we are seeing Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks have a career resurgence, we aren't seeing that from nearly anyone else.
Sebastian Foltz / Post-Gazette
Seahawks QB Sam Darnold winds up to throw the football down the field during a game in Pittsburgh against the Steelers.
The Steelers' offense already has a decent team, but they need a receiver or two as mentioned. It is within the Steelers' best interest to wait until at least 2027 to find their franchise quarterback with the 2026 class already looking extremely underwhelming.
Steelers Should Maybe Try Roethlisberger's Idea
In 2004, the Steelers had to start Roethlisberger due to injury, and he went 13-0 as the starter and even led the team to the AFC Championship game. Roethlisberger then won a Super Bowl the following season. He joined an established team and led them as needed, but he is not the only one who has done this. Tom Brady, who is arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, came into an established team and gave them what they needed. Patrick Mahomes, of the Kansas City Chiefs, joined an established team and won three Super Bowls.
Recently, we've seen rookie quarterbacks have success, like Jayden Daniels and CJ Stroud. Both won playoff games as rookies, and both also had sophomore slumps, with Stroud still being in that slump despite being in year three. While the Steelers aren't far from this, they're not close. The roster has a good nucleus, but still needs major improvement.
Alysa Rubin / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Jack Sawyer forces a fumble during a Wild Card game against the Houston Texans on January 12th, 2026.
Roethlisberger's plan also has some major flaws. In today's NFL, the quarterback position is the most important, which means they make the most money. While the idea of building a solid team first sounds good, they likely wouldn't be able to pay that quarterback. Guys like Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, and Brock Purdy all make $53,000,000 on average and above. It would be almost impossible to build a team, then get your franchise quarterback, without losing him in five years.
What do you think? What should the Steelers do at quarterback? Should they take Roethlisberger's advice? Should they sign another veteran, or try to draft their guy? Let us know in the comments.
#SteelerNation