Steelers QB depth chart: How it looks without Aaron Rodgers

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room remains a question mark even after the 2026 NFL Draft.

Pittsburgh selected Penn State quarterback Drew Allar in the third round, joining a quarterback room that currently lacks an established starter.

This situation could lead to a wide-open competition with Will Howard and Mason Rudolph, but Aaron Rodgers may return to play again this season and could re-sign with the Steelers. The 42-year-old has yet to decide on his NFL future.

The Steelers took out something of an insurance policy in the event that Rodgers does decide to play, by placing an unrestricted free agent tender on him. A decision to re-sign with Pittsburgh could come in the coming weeks.

Here’s an overview of the Steelers’ quarterback situation, including a look at their current quarterback depth chart as Rodgers

NFL FREE AGENTS: Jauan Jennings leads best players available

1 / 4

2026 NFL offseason tracker: Player signings, trades

Steelers QB depth chart

Pittsburgh currently has three quarterbacks on its roster. The one veteran atop the depth chart has experience playing for the Steelers. Here’s a look at the projected pecking order as things currently stand:

1. Mason Rudolph

Rudolph spent the first six seasons of his career with the Steelers before playing the 2024 season with the Tennessee Titans. A former third-round pick by the Steelers, he returned to Pittsburgh in 2025 as a free agent, signing a two-year, $7.5 million contract. At 30 years old, he is the veteran in the room and the only quarterback on the roster who has taken regular-season snaps in the NFL.

He struggled in his lone season in Tennessee, finishing with a 1-4 record while completing 64% of his passes for 1,530 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions (80.1 passer rating). Rudolph had an 8-4-1 record in 13 starts with the Steelers from 2019-2023. He completed 63.5% of his passes for 3,085 yards, along with 19 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, achieving an 86.9 passer rating in those games. He started one game for Pittsburgh in 2025 when Rodgers was sidelined with a wrist injury, but the team lost 31-28 to the Chicago Bears.

Rudolph has a strong case to slot in as QB1 as the only signal-caller with NFL experience.

2. Will Howard

The Steelers selected Howard in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The 24-year-old quarterback led the Ohio State Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff (CFP) championship in 2024, throwing for 4,010 yards, with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions over 16 games in his senior year.

Although Howard may lack the elite arm talent required to be a long-term starter, he possesses the toughness and the potential to be a high-end-caliber backup QB in the NFL. As the Steelers began their offseason workouts ahead of the NFL draft, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero referred to Howard as the team’s starting quarterback (QB1), despite Rudolph also being on the roster.

3. Drew Allar

Allar was a third-round pick by the Steelers (76th overall) in the 2026 NFL Draft, becoming the first signal-caller drafted during the Mike McCarthy era. Ranked as the fifth-best quarterback on USA TODAY Sports’ big board, Allar possesses the size (6-5, 235 pounds) and arm talent to become a star at the NFL level. His physical tools have drawn comparisons to Josh Allen and he was once considered a first-round talent prior to suffering a season-ending injury.

The Penn State alumni could challenge both Rudolph and Howard for the starting gig right out of the gates, given that McCarthy isn’t tied to the two incumbents.

Will Aaron Rodgers return to Steelers?

The Steelers previously expected a decision from Rodgers ahead of the draft, but that never came to fruition.

Still, it seems likely Pittsburgh will re-sign Rodgers, as Steelers owner Art Rooney II outlined during an appearance on “The Insiders” on April 20.

“We’ve been in contact with Aaron on a regular basis,” Rooney told NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista. “He’s been keeping us up to date on his plans.”

“Even though I thought it probably would have been concluded by now, I think we will come to a conclusion here in the next few weeks.”

Rodgers’ decision to retire or return to the NFL for a 22nd season has been a topic all offseason. The 42-year-old told “The Pat McAfee Show” on March 4 he didn’t have a contract offer or a deadline from the Steelers.

Notably, last offseason Steelers general manager Omar Khan told reporters, “We go to camp with four quarterbacks.”

The Steelers acquired one, Allar, during the draft, bringing their roster total to three.

There remains no timetable for Rodgers to make a decision, but on Tuesday, April 28, the Steelers placed the seldom-used unrestricted free agent tender on the four-time MVP. This would ensure that Pittsburgh would receive a compensatory draft pick if Rodgers returned to play in 2026 but signed with another team.

Rooney explained the process behind the decision to Pelissero and Battista.

“The main thing that the tender gives us is the potential for a comp pick if Aaron would choose to go to another team,” Rooney said. “We don’t expect that, but by the same token, you never know. It’s just something that we had an opportunity to protect if needed. The deadline was Monday so if we were gonna do it, we had to pull the trigger on Monday.

“We alerted Aaron and his representative that we were going to do it so not a real big deal, but something in the unlikely event that he goes somewhere else, we are eligible for a comp pick in that situation.”

Still, it appears that the Steelers and Rooney are confident Rodgers will be back in Pittsburgh in 2026, where he would reunite with Mike McCarthy, with whom he spent 13 seasons in Green Bay (2006–2018), winning Super Bowl 45.