How Will Howard Could End Up Missing Steelers' Roster
In a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room where Aaron Rodgers and Drew Allar are clearly safe, the last spot will come down to Will Howard and Mason Rudolph.
From where things stand during OTAs, Rudolph profiles as the clear outsider. Howard, despite being a sixth-rounder in the 2025 NFL Draft, appears to have a lot of fans amongst the Steelers' coaching staff.
Is there any world, though, where Howard could ever be traded or even cut ahead of the regular season?
What Would Have to Transpire for Howard to Not Make 53-Man Roster?
Ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, it would have been nothing short of ridiculous to assert that Howard wasn't a lock to be on Pittsburgh's roster for Week 1.
At that point in time, Rodgers still hadn't informed the organization of his plans for the upcoming year, and there was no other young signal caller in the building.
Once the Steelers took Allar in the third round, however, it almost felt like Howard took a backseat. That doesn't mean he can't or won't have a future with the team, but the former was hand-picked by Mike McCarthy and the new coaching staff and has a higher ceiling than the latter.
Pittsburgh is still committed to developing Howard, whose rookie year was impaired by a hand injury he suffered during training camp, and the fact that he took the second-team reps ahead of Rudolph during the first week of OTAs is a positive sign.
There's still a little over three months before final roster cuts, though, opening the door for any number of outcomes in the battle between Howard and Rudolph.
Again, the most likely outcome is that Rudolph is either traded or released, but it's not a 100 percent certainty that the Steelers will keep Howard over him.
Howard would seem to control his own fate, in that if he develops at a quick rate and performs well throughout the offseason while showing a deep understanding of McCarthy's offense, the team won't get rid of him.
In a scenario where he doesn't live up to internal expectations during the rest of OTAs as well as mandatory minicamp and training camp with the number of reps he's given, however, than some doubt could creep into Pittsburgh's minds.
The ultimate litmus test for Howard would then be the preseason, where he'll play a ton alongside Allar as the Steelers get a further look at both quarterback prospects in game settings.
If Howard drops the ball with that opportunity and plays at a subpar level with little to no positives, that could then give the organization further incentive to keep Rudolph around as a proven veteran backup who could be entrusted with running the offense if Rodgers has to miss any time.
The margin for error for Howard may not be insanely high, but his roster spot will also likely be safe even if he's just average over the next few months, simply because keeping him around over Rudolph is the most sensible decision for Pittsburgh's future.
Should Howard really squander his opportunities and leave room for the Steelers to rationalize holding onto Rudolph, though, he could find himself in a disadvantageous situation and perhaps on a different team at the end of the summer.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/steelers/onsi as How Will Howard Could End Up Missing Steelers' Roster.
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 6:00 AM.