If Philadelphia comes calling for quarterback help, the Steelers ought to pick up the phone.
Jalen Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season, and that has put the Eagles in a tough spot at quarterback. After additional testing showed a deep vein thrombosis and blood clots in Hurts’ lungs, Philadelphia announced Monday that he is stable, receiving blood thinners, and is expected to make a full recovery without long-term effects.
Football can wait. The question now is whether the Eagles decide they need another veteran arm to steady a season that has already slipped to 2-4 after Sunday’s loss to Carolina.
That’s where Mason Rudolph enters the conversation.
Pittsburgh has already slotted Rudolph in as its veteran QB2, but that shouldn’t make him untouchable. He checks the boxes Philadelphia would likely want: game experience, enough poise to function in a familiar offense, and a track record of helping a strong roster survive stretches without having to be rebuilt around him.
Steelers fans know both sides of the ledger.
In 2023, Rudolph finished the final three regular-season games and went 3-0, completing 74.3 percent of his passes for 719 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. That stretch helped save Pittsburgh’s season and earned him a playoff start.
But there’s another version too. After signing with the Titans in the 2024 free-agency period, Rudolph started five games in Tennessee.
The Titans went 1-4 in those starts, and he wrapped up the year with 1,530 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions across eight appearances.
That’s not a knock so much as a reminder of what he is: a useful quarterback, but not someone who should block the Steelers from thinking bigger picture.
With Aaron Rodgers starting and Rudolph backed up by Will Howard and Drew Allar, Pittsburgh already has a crowded quarterback room, and questions have surfaced about whether carrying that many arms could eventually lead to a move. Rudolph has a strong argument as the steadiest reserve on the roster, and he showed that throughout the offseason. But if the Eagles put late-round draft capital on the table for a 31-year-old backup while Pittsburgh is also trying to develop two younger quarterbacks, Omar Khan should listen.
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Steelers Have A Buy-Low Backfield Option Worth Watching In New York
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For Pittsburgh, the appeal is obvious if New York decides to listen before the trade deadline. Skattebo has already shown he can handle a meaningful workload when given one, and the Steelers have reason to explore a low-cost addition if they want another rugged option for the stretch run. Whether the Giants are actually ready to move him is still the open question, but this is the kind of situation front offices watch closely when a backfield gets crowded on one side and thin on the other. [Read more 🡒]
Mike McCarthy Just Addressed That Steelers Locker Room Speculation
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Pat Freiermuth helped put the temperature down a bit as well, saying the locker room remains in a good place and the focus is still on getting better and winning. For a team trying to keep the conversation centered on football, the distinction matters, because one offhand phrase can quickly turn into a bigger story than the actual work being done behind the scenes. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Quarterback Search Just Got Murkier Than Fans Expected
What once looked like a promising quarterback class for the Steelers is starting to look a lot less straightforward as the college season moves along. Pittsburgh has been keeping close tabs on the 2027 group as it shapes its long-range thinking at the position, but the early confidence around the class has faded some midway through the year.
Arch Manning and LaNorris Sellers have both had stretches that complicate the picture, while Dante Moore and Darian Mensah have helped steady their own evaluations. For a Steelers team that knows how much weight falls on finding the right quarterback, the problem now is not just identifying talent, but figuring out which names in this class still belong in the top tier. [Read more 🡒]