New Information Suggests Steelers Are Planning On Making Extremely Bold Move With The Offense

It certainly makes for a great story that the Pittsburgh Steelers found a way to reunite Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers. The dynamic duo will be working together in the Steel City for the first time in 2026, which sets up a hypothetical fairytale ending to the future Hall of Famer's career. However, fans will worry about the state of the starting offense once September rolls around. Grabbing the headlines throughout the summertime will continue to be what is going on with the depth chart behind the four-time MVP. There are three guys theoretically battling for two spots: Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Drew Allar.

Allar would have to seriously turn heads at training camp and in the preseason to enter the discussion regarding Rodgers' backup. Because of this, all eyes are on Rudolph and Howard. There's a legitimate chance that the odd man out ends up on another team or the practice squad. This is why the situation is one of the league's most fascinating when it comes to the second-string signal-caller spot.

The tides may be turning in an unexpected direction, however. Gerry Dulac appeared on the Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show on Monday to talk about the Steelers' current setup. When asked if Pittsburgh might actually be considering stashing four quarterbacks on the roster, the insider went against the grain and offered a surprising update.

"You know guys, I'm starting to think that they will," Dulac said. "I think maybe, especially early in the season, I think a lot of it depends on how respectful and loyal they want to be to Mason Rudolph. And, I'm not saying that's a foregone conclusion, but if it comes down to that decision, you know, will they want, you know, if Mason would say, 'Hey look, do me a favor, get rid of me.' He's not like that. I don't expect him to do that. They're not going to cut Drew Allar. It's going to come down to Will Howard or Mason Rudolph."

One simple option to get away with this is for Allar to ironically end up on Injured Reserve (IR) at some point before cutdowns come in late August. This would hurt his development a bit because of the rules that go along with it, but it would allow the Steelers to keep a veteran backup on the roster in the event of several injuries to the position.

The comments from Dulac about the team respecting Rudolph make sense. He has been with the organization for almost his entire professional career, and it wouldn't necessarily be good business to trade him to a bottom-feeder that needs a backup. With that said, there may not be many options for the Steelers if Howard has an incredible exhibition period.

"If Will Howard looks impressive in the preseason, then you can just rubber stamp him on the team; and then it comes down to, you know, do you want to move on from Mason Rudolph," Dulac stated. "The more I think about it, the more I hear Mike McCarthy talk about it, I will not be at all surprised if they keep all four quarterbacks."

Keeping four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster seems almost impossible because of how precious those spots are. There would need to be a legitimate creative strategy developed. Additionally, once one of them ends up on the practice squad, any other team can sign that individual to its active roster.

Steelers Might Regret Letting Rudolph Go If It Comes To That

If Howard shows up in the preseason and Allar looks respectable, Rudolph still has about a 50-50 shot at getting released or traded. The biggest risk here is that pressure in August is not the same as it will be when the games matter. Rudolph has proven that he can jump in and start, but the other two haven't. That's why there's an argument to be had about the veteran backup staying with the Steelers.

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