The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the many teams across the NFL that would love to solve their quarterback problem. The organization has been placing a veteran Band-Aid on the position for the last several years, and Aaron Rodgers is set to start his second season with the team. Rodgers has already announced his intent to retire after the 2026 season, and the organization needs to find its next franchise quarterback. A player to fill this role may already be on the roster. They could come through the 2027 NFL Draft as well, or the player could be acquired from somewhere else around the league.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers General Manager Omar Khan (left) and Owner Art Rooney II (right) on the field at a team practice while having a discussion.
The Steelers will be doing their homework on quarterbacks expected to enter the 2027 NFL Draft, while either Will Howard or Drew Allar could also be the starter for the next couple of seasons in Pittsburgh. General Manager Omar Khan will also check out various quarterbacks around the league that could join the Steelers, as retread players at the position have become more and more popular. This is due to the resurgence of Baker Mayfield with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as well as Sam Darnold winning the Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.
A potential retread quarterback to consider in Pittsburgh is Mac Jones. He was a former first-round pick back in 2021, and he showed promising signs during the 2025 season while backing up Brock Purdy. He had to start a stretch of games, and he played well. The San Francisco 49ers didn't seem open to dealing him as their asking price was far too high, but that might not be the case anymore according to Eric Branch of the SF Chronicle.
"The 49ers are intrigued by No. 3 QB Kurtis Rourke, a big-armed 2025 seventh-round pick who was sidelined last year by a knee injury from college," Branch wrote. "Are they intrigued enough to give Rourke more practice snaps than they typically give third-stringers to see if he can serve as Purdy’s backup, sooner than expected? The 49ers were willing to trade QB Mac Jones before the draft, but no team met their reportedly steep asking price. If an injury to a starter prompts a team to pony up, would the 49ers deal Jones at some point before the trade deadline on Nov. 3? They likely would if Rourke, like Purdy in 2022, resembles a seventh-round steal."
Kurtis Rourke returning to full health has the 49ers intrigued, and if the organization feels comfortable with him being a backup, there is no reason not to deal Jones. The way Branch wrote about this makes it seem like a deal probably would not happen until the 2026 season is underway.
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49ers quarterback Mac Jones during an away game in the 2025 season.
San Francisco was asking for a lot in return for Jones leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, and it would not have been feasible to make that trade. However, now Jones is entering the final year of his deal, and if San Francisco wants anything for him, trading him prior to the deadline would probably be the smart move. It would likely have to be more than a third-round pick as that would be what the franchise would receive when the quarterback leaves in free agency due to the NFL's compensatory pick formula.
The 49ers are going to have to see Rourke in training camp and the preseason to be certain the organization can be comfortable with moving on from Jones. This is the type of move that likely wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
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49ers' Mac Jones as he fills in for Brock Purdy during a home game in San Francisco.
Steelers Would Be Taking A Risk Acquiring Mac Jones
Branch mentioned Jones being traded if a starter goes down, but the Steelers could probably make an offer without Rodgers suffering an injury. It would be a plan for the future, but any trade involving Jones would have to come with an extension. That is especially true for the Steelers, who probably would not be planning to play him in 2026. There is a chance he would be the top quarterback available in free agency, so Pittsburgh would have to open up its wallet.
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