Thursday brings the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opener, and it comes with a familiar flavor from Wisconsin. Aaron Rodgers is unlikely to see action against his former team, but the matchup still carries real weight for players trying to earn reps, win jobs, and force their way onto the roster.
That’s the real pulse of preseason football: every snap is a chance to make the film look different. A long stretch of minutes in the opener won’t settle every roster question, but it can absolutely move a player up or down the pecking order. For the guys battling for playing time, that matters.
The headliner for the game itself is how Drew Allar and Will Howard handle the moment. Rodgers knows that kind of opportunity well; before he replaced Brett Favre, he spent time as a backup and learned what it means to be ready when the door opens.
For now, Monday’s Three Rivers Report also turns to one of the Steelers’ biggest talking points off the field: Ben Roethlisberger and the Hall of Fame. Roethlisberger is eligible, and the question being debated is whether he belongs in as a first-ballot selection.
The discussion is already underway, with a poll asking: “Is Ben Roethlisberger a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer?”
Around the Steelers, there’s no shortage of other storylines. The team’s training camp has produced a list of ten players standing out, Washington could come calling after Laremy Tunsil’s injury, and there’s even a question about whether Pittsburgh could keep four quarterbacks, which would be highly unusual.
It’s game week, the roster battles are heating up, and the Steelers have plenty of angles worth watching as the preseason begins.
In Other News...
Steelers Fans Have A Real Killer Bs Hall Of Fame Debate
The old Killer Bs debate is back in a new form, and it is one Steelers fans know well. LeVeon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger all built Hall of Fame-worthy resumes in Pittsburgh, the kind that still sparks conversation years after the offense was broken apart. Their peak years helped define an era for the franchise, and even now the question is less about whether their careers belong in Canton than how the voters will sort through them.
For Bell, Brown and Roethlisberger, the resume is there, but so is the baggage, which is why the timing may matter as much as the credentials. Brown and Roethlisberger in particular figure to face a more complicated path, and Roethlisbergers case could be affected by the crowd of eligible players coming in 2028. For Steelers fans, it is another reminder that the legacy of that offense is still being written, even if the ending feels inevitable. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Roster Battles Are Heating Up Before The Next Game
With the next game drawing closer, the Steelers are in the thick of several roster evaluations that go beyond the usual preseason checklist. Pittsburgh is sorting through competition at quarterback and along the offensive line, while the larger conversation around the team keeps circling back to possible quarterback movement across the league and former safety Minkah Fitzpatricks thoughts on the defense.
The most interesting subplots are tucked into the depth chart, where familiar names are trying to carve out a role before decisions get harder. Quarterback remains a particularly watchable spot, and there is just as much attention on the interior line, where a backup job could be decided by one good practice or one clean series in the upcoming game. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Season Suddenly Carries One Uncomfortable Aaron Rodgers Twist
Aaron Rodgers barely has time to settle into the Steelers season before the chatter around him has already turned to the trade deadline. Mike Florio raised the possibility that Pittsburgh could explore moving the quarterback if things go off the rails, but for now the organization is operating with a very different mindset, one centered on pushing toward a Super Bowl rather than thinking about an exit ramp.
Even so, the conversation lingers because the league landscape is not exactly offering an obvious escape hatch. If the Steelers ever did decide Rodgers was available, there does not appear to be a clear NFL team lined up as a realistic landing spot, which only adds to how unusual this whole twist feels. For the moment, the football world is left to watch whether this is just speculative noise or a storyline that could gain real traction later in the fall. [Read more 🡒]