The Pittsburgh Steelers may finally have a quarterback situation that invites a trade.
With four roster candidates in the mix, the club is in a spot where keeping everyone into 2026 does not feel like the likely outcome. Head coach Mike McCarthy, by the nature of how he usually handles the position, is not expected to carry four quarterbacks. That leaves a pretty clear pressure point: if the Steelers want to trim the group, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard or Drew Allar would be the names in play - though Rudolph or Howard sound like the real possibilities.
Detroit has quickly emerged as a team to keep an eye on. The Lions are in the market for a backup to Jared Goff after Teddy Bridgewater told the team he was stepping away from football and likely retiring from the NFL. Detroit already added Steelers quarterback Joshua Dobbs after that news, but there’s no guarantee he ends up as QB2 for the Lions this season.
That opens the door for Pittsburgh, which has two veteran-style options that could interest Detroit.
Which quarterback the Steelers would be willing to move is still an open question, but there’s little reason to think they’d shut down the conversation. In fact, the way McCarthy has talked about the room may hint at where this is headed.
“Mason Rudolph, I can't tell you how pleased I am with him,” McCarthy told media at training camp when asked which players are standing out. He then went on to explain how Rudolph is thriving with the team's quarterback school.
Howard, notably, did not get the same kind of mention. And the only real storyline involving the second-year quarterback since camp opened is that he went from taking second-team reps at OTAs and minicamp to working with the third team at training camp.
That leaves two clean reads on the situation. Either McCarthy genuinely likes Rudolph and Howard is the quarterback most likely to get squeezed out, or the coach is putting Rudolph in the spotlight to create trade value before the regular season begins.
Either way, this is the time of year when those kinds of conversations start to matter. The Steelers are getting a better picture of their roster and are likely beginning to settle on the 53 players they plan to keep. If they are sorting out the quarterback depth chart, they are also sorting out which pieces they can afford to move.
The phone may not be ringing from Pittsburgh, but if it does, it sounds like the Steelers would at least listen. For the first time this offseason, a quarterback trade looks like a real possibility for the Steelers.
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