Insider Suggests Secret Handshake Deal Could Help Steelers Keep Will Howard On Practice Squad

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a youth movement at quarterback. With the addition of 2026 third-rounder Drew Allar and 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard, there are some projects at the position for Head Coach Mike McCarthy. With veteran arm Aaron Rodgers signing for another go and Mason Rudolph still lingering, there's limited room on the roster for four quarterbacks. Unless Pittsburgh wants to have an inactive quarterback and the emergency third on Sundays, one needs to be cut, dealt, or somehow placed on the practice squad, which is a problem in itself. 

One of the reasons the Steelers brought in McCarthy is his unique ability to work with quarterbacks. He has proven throughout his long-time coaching career that he can help his young players with their footwork, arm angles, and overall confidence. His "quarterback school" has become a phenomenon and has helped the four-time MVP, Rodgers, become a star and future Hall of Famer himself. It's no different for the Steelers' two young quarterbacks, with Allar being one of the most highly-touted prospects, but struggling with footwork at the collegiate level. Howard is a College Football Playoff champion, but some of his mechanics made teams hesitant to draft him.

The organization wants to see what it has in its young signal-callers, and with McCarthy's help and the franchise looking to the future, keeping the two seems necessary, but difficult. Howard has yet to play a real professional snap after a finger injury forced him to miss the 2025 preseason. He'll have an opportunity to show what he can do this offseason, but keeping four quarterbacks come the regular season will be challenging. Steelers insider Mark Kaboly shared a way for Pittsburgh to keep its developmental quarterback on the Kaboly + Mack Show. 

"Howard doesn't have to go to somebody else's practice squad. Once he clears waivers, they can cut him on September 1st. And how many people would be interested in putting him on their roster? I don't know. Probably not a lot. He's a 185th overall pick. He can come back to [the Steelers'] practice squad. Steelers can throw him a couple extra bucks and say, 'Hang out.' Even if some team wants to come sign him to their active roster, maybe they don't do that because he knows he has a better opportunity here next year," Kaboly said. 

The Steelers hoping that Howard doesn't get picked up if he were to be sent to the practice squad is extremely risky. Howard presents some upside. While he was a sixth-round pick, Pittsburgh has seemed confident in him when he has been mentioned throughout the offseason. Stashing him on the practice squad will be hard because Howard is arguably better than some of the other third-string QBs in the league, and his ceiling could give teams some hope in snagging even just a high-quality backup. 

The front office will have a huge decision to make when it comes the quarterback room. Obviously, Rodgers is safe, and the Steelers just invested a third-rounder in Allar. This means that the team will have to choose between a reliable veteran arm in Rudolph, or a project in Howard. Keeping four quarterbacks would be hard as mentioned, and could take a roster spot away from valuable depth options elsewhere. Training camp and preseason will dictate a lot for the young quarterback in Howard, and how the Steelers will approach this unique situation. 

Steelers Could Go With The Youth Movement

The Steelers know that come 2027, they'll have to evaluate their young signal-callers. If they were to lose or move on from Howard, all of the eggs will be in the Allar basket. Pittsburgh will probably want to see what they have in Howard, too. The only issue is if Rodgers were to go down, the only backup options are two gunslingers with no NFL snaps if Rudolph moves on. 

However, this would give a sneak peek at how the young players could handle NFL snaps. All of these hypotheticals will play a part in how the Steelers manage the quarterback room. However, a youth movement there to see how 2027 could look might not be a bad idea. 

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