Will Howard proving that Steelers' plan to keep four QBs doesn't make sense

The Pittsburgh Steelers may not have their long-term answer at quarterback on their roster right now, but they certainly have a lot of quarterbacks as potential options with Aaron Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, Drew Allar and Will Howard.

It has already been reported that the Steelers may be planning on keeping all four of them for the 2026 season, but it is hard to find the logic in how that makes sense or the motivation in why they would do it.

It does not make much sense for the Steelers to keep Will Howard

Rodgers is locked in as the starter for one more season.

Rudolph seems locked in as the backup given his extensive history as a backup (while having some success in that role), and the fact he has not played a single snap over the past two preseason games. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he has already seen everything he needs to see from Rudolph, and he probably has. There are no secrets with him, and it seems unlikely that a team trying to win this season would willingly enter with a 42-year-old starter and two backups who have never taken a regular-season snap. Rudolph is in.

Allar is also a lock as a third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and McCarthy's hand-picked young project to work with in the hopes he can develop him into a starter.

That leaves Howard, a sixth-round pick from 2025 who was selected by the previous coaching staff.

Howard spent the entirety of the 2025 season on IR, and he was getting his first real tasted of NFL playing time this preseason. He started each of the past two games, played the first half of each, and had some moments, but it was largely unimpressive. Not necessarily due to the numbers, but just the fact that nothing about his game or skill set stood out as a potential long-term answer at the position. His ceiling is extremely low and might only project out to be a backup. That is typically what you are looking at with sixth-round quarterbacks unless you get historically lucky and come away with a Tom Brady or Matt Hasselbeck. The odds of that happening are extremely low. 

He does not have elite arm strength. He is not overly mobile. He does not seem to process plays quickly or make fast decisions. He just seems like roster-filler and maybe practice squad material. 

Allar, meanwhile, is also a long-term project who needs to improve in a lot of areas, but he at least has an NFL arm and NFL mobility. The tools are all there. It is just a matter of whether or not he can collect them all in the toolbox at the same time and put them to use. 

He is clearly the player you can dream on and hope to develop. 

All of this makes it difficult to see how it all works out here for Howard. 

There are not enough snaps in practice for all four quarterbacks to get reps (there are not even enough for third-string quarterbacks to get snaps), and the only thing Howard would gain is just sitting in with meetings and being around an NFL team. Doing so also takes away another potential roster spot that could be filled by a player who might actually have a chance of contributing to games this season.

There is a reason most teams do not keep four quarterbacks on the active roster. 

The Steelers are evaluating Howard for an injury after Thursday's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Maybe there is a chance they can sneak him on IR again to open the season and buy some time. Maybe they take a chance and try to sneak him on to the practice squad. Or maybe they just simply go with three quarterbacks. Whatever decision they could make out of that list of options, it would be more sensible than keeping all four on the roster this season.