Trade Rumors Heat Up As Steelers Insider Gives Pittsburgh's Stance On Dealing Mason Rudolph

While the Pittsburgh Steelers have not yet publicly stated if they expect Aaron Rodgers to return for another season or not, it certainly seems as if it is trending that way. The organization has made plenty of moves since the new league year began, and all of them point in the direction of a front office believing that winning now is very much a possibility. Will Howard and Mason Rudolph will continue to sit and wait in the background as the veteran once again takes his time regarding a decision about his future. Overall, the situation will hopefully be resolved sooner rather than later.

An interesting possibility that could arise is Howard moving into the second spot on the depth chart. If the Steelers truly do believe in him as much as they appear to, then it would make no sense to have Rudolph sitting as the backup. This would take away valuable reps that the former sixth-round pick would need, all while learning from Rodgers for another year.

Rudolph, on the other hand, would hypothetically slip down to the third spot and end up in one of the more uninteresting points of his entire career. This could create a unique dynamic, and it would be viewed as a serious demotion. This is a scenario that may or may not end up happening, but the team also has 12 overall selections in the 2026 NFL Draft.

If the Steelers did decide that it is worth it to take a signal-caller in one of the later rounds, four quarterbacks would be fighting for three spots. In that situation, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Rudolph — an experienced veteran — could find himself on the trade block. Despite that theory, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac was asked in a fan chat on Wednesday if he saw that coming to fruition. To the reporter's knowledge, no such plan has been discussed.

"No. That's not in their plans," Dulac wrote.

Anything can change for a team like Pittsburgh that has so much uncertainty around the quarterback position, but Rudolph has been in the Steel City for pretty much his entire career. He is a valued member of the locker room and has a veteran presence that the Steelers always hope to have in at least one backup signal-caller. No matter what happens with Rodgers and Howard, it appears as if Rudolph won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Rudolph deserves credit for an unlikely Steelers playoff appearance in 2023. There were a ton of questions about what to do down the stretch in December, and he helped lead the collective to several important wins in a row. This eventually led to a postseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills, which ultimately resulted in a tough loss on the road.

Despite having veteran prowess and some success at the NFL level, Rudolph has pretty much cemented himself as a career backup. Albeit a good one, the Steelers will now let him hold onto the number two spot behind a starter unless that individual somehow ends up being Howard. One injury to a key second-stringer in training camp or the preseason could change this, as teams will potentially be interested in Rudolph if Rodgers and Howard are the top two on the depth chart.

Steelers Prepared To Stand By Public Belief In Howard

Unless it all truly is some kind of smokescreen, Pittsburgh seems to be all in on allowing Howard to grow in the offense moving forward. Whether he is the future at the position or not, doesn't matter in the present. If he earns the backup spot behind Rodgers, he will have another year of preparation and learning under his belt. If the veteran surprisingly retires, the keys to the kingdom may be given to the young signal-caller sooner than expected with Rudolph backing him up.

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