The Steelers Keeping 4 Quarterbacks Could Be Extremely Damaging To Two Position Groups

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a slew of tough decisions ahead of them as trimming the current roster down to 53 guys is not going to be easy. This is a tough reality for every single team across the NFL, but hopefully the final two preseason games help make things a bit clearer for the decision-makers in Pittsburgh. There are obviously players who are clear locks to make the final roster, but things begin to get tricky at the bottom of the depth chart as the coaching staff has to account for special teams contributions, depth, and positional versatility.

The biggest question that will plague the Steelers when it comes to finalizing the roster is going to be the number of quarterbacks that are kept. The traditional number across the NFL is three, but the Steelers are in a spot where the franchise really needs to consider keeping four. Aaron Rodgers is the starter and Drew Allar is the rookie third-round pick, therefore they are both locks to make the final roster. Mason Rudolph and Will Howard are not considered locks, and they are each fighting for the top backup job in Pittsburgh. There is a chance that whoever loses that job could be cut, and right now that looks like it might be Howard.

Keeping Howard is something the Steelers may want to do as Head Coach Mike McCarthy loves him as a player, and he is also a developmental piece that could turn into something more. He and Allar are the only quarterbacks under contract for the 2027 season, so keeping both around is somewhat important. If four quarterbacks are kept, that means another position group is going to be hurt by that decision, and beat writer Ray Fittipaldo joined 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday to discuss what group that might be.

"You can look at several positions," Fittipaldo said. "In the end, Mike McCarthy is an offensive coach. I ended up keeping 26 on offense and 26 on defense. Look at safety, look at Robert Spears-Jennings, guy has actually gotten a lot of reps in camp. Maybe he's a guy they think they can sneak onto the practice squad. Look at the offense, if they do want to be more traditional and go 25-25, it might be an offensive lineman that has to go. McCarthy wants to keep 10, but if you keep four quarterbacks, it might be eight or nine. I would probably look at those two positions, offensive line and secondary."

The traditional roster breakdown when it comes to numbers is 25 guys on offense, 25 on defense, and then three specialists being your kicker, punter, and long snapper. That makes up the 53-man roster. Keeping four quarterbacks could change that as the Steelers could go 26 on offense and just 24 on defense.

If the organization decides to go heavy on the offensive side, Fittipaldo believes it will be the secondary that will lose a roster spot, and he named rookie safety Robert Spears-Jennings as the player that might be directly affected. The Steelers would try to sneak him onto the practice squad, but if he plays as well as he did in the first preseason throughout the remainder of the preseason, he might be hard to hide from other teams. He could get picked up, which is a risk Pittsburgh may have to take.

Steelers Have An Easy Route To Cut Down The Offensive Line

The best way to keep four quarterbacks would be to keep just eight or nine offensive linemen. Keep the five that started against the Green Bay Packers plus Brock Hoffman, Broderick Jones, Max Iheanachor, and Gennings Dunker. Hoffman has the versatility to be a backup center. That would be nine offensive linemen, plus four quarterbacks. That leaves the coaching staff room for 12 total wide receivers, running backs, and tight ends. 

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