The Pittsburgh Steelers’ pair of young quarterbacks received some refreshing news regarding Brendan Sorsby.

With the NFL opting not to hold a supplemental draft this summer and thus ensuring Sorsby’s only other opportunity to enter the league is by declaring for the 2027 NFL Draft, both Will Howard and Drew Allar won’t face any competition from another up-and-coming signal caller this summer.

While next year’s draft is still the target for the Steelers when it comes to finding a franchise quarterback, having to kick the can down the road in this instance means Howard and Allar now have additional time to prove themselves and aren’t at risk of losing their respective roles in 2026.

How Howard Benefits

Unless Pittsburgh was willing, or planning, to carry four quarterbacks had it landed Sorsby in the supplemental draft before it was nixed, Howard was all but certain to part ways with the organization.

Perhaps he would’ve latched back onto the practice squad if he were cut and subsequently cleared waivers, but the 24-year-old would’ve otherwise become a complete afterthought behind Sorsby and Allar.

The outlook on Howard ever becoming a long-term starter for the Steelers is grim at best. Because Sorsby won’t be on the roster this season, however, his battle with Mason Rudolph for the backup job behind Aaron Rodgers won’t be rendered obsolete.

It’s possible Howard could win it over Rudolph and show enough leading into the 2027 campaign that he could earn the starting role to open the year before Allar or a rookie takes over.

That feels like it’s looking too far ahead, though. In the present, the fact that Sorsby isn’t on the team means Howard’s odds of cracking the 53-man roster remain rather high.

Allar Is In a Good Spot

Assuming trading Allar was never on the table regardless of their potential plans if they had brought Sorsby in, the Penn State product was always going to be on the Steelers’ roster in 2026.

The third-round rookie would’ve had far more of a convoluted path to any sort of meaningful role with the team had Sorsby shared the quarterback room with him, though.

Their strengths are incredibly similar, though Sorsby has a significant leg-up over Allar in terms of his mobility, which could’ve ultimately been the difference down the line in any position battle between the two.

It’s still too early to champion Allar, and it’s likely that a first-round quarterback in the 2027 draft would usurp him if that’s the direction Pittsburgh ends up going in.

Nevertheless, with less pressure and more focus from the coaching staff on helping him develop than there would’ve been if Sorsby were in town, Allar doesn’t have to worry about competing with another signal caller when he isn’t really ready to do so.

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Merrill Lynch has hired a veteran Morgan Stanley manager to help oversee branches in Connecticut, western Massachusetts and portions of New York. 

Jairzinho “Jazz” Skair joined Merrill as a market manager overseeing offices in Hartford, New Haven, Springfield, Glastonbury, West Hartford, Farmington, Mystic, Guilford, Southbury and Ridgefield, a Merrill spokesperson confirmed. He reports to Central Shoreline Connecticut Market Executive William Cholawa, who returned to the thundering herd in 2024 after around a decade at UBS. 

Skair had most recently been a branch manager for Morgan Stanley in Hartford, according to his LinkedIn. He had started his career in the legal department at UBS Wealth Management USA in 1998 and served in a number of finance, sales and management roles, including branch manager in Westport, before joining Morgan Stanley in 2023. 

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Jazz during my time at UBS and saw firsthand his passion for coaching, developing people, and driving results,” Cholawa said in a LinkedIn post announcing the hire. “He is a servant leader who believes in being Authentic, Present, and Useful, and those principles are reflected in the way he leads and supports others.”

A Morgan Stanley spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Merrill and its wirehouse peers have been shuffling and poaching field leaders as they seek to bolster recruiting in an increasingly competitive market. 

To that end, Merrill said it had hired two father-son teams with a combined $560 million in client assets. Both joined on June 17. 

Roy Savarick and his son, Evan, joined Merrill from Wells Fargo Advisors where they managed around $280 million in assets, according to the Merrill spokesperson. They generated around $2.3 million in annual revenue. 

The elder Savarick, a 44-year industry veteran, is based in the firm’s Florida Tropics market led by Jason Edelmann. Evan, who has 12 years of experience, works in New York City from Merrill’s Park Avenue office led by Joe Doonan. They had joined Wells in 2022 from Morgan Stanley, according to BrokerCheck records. 

Separately, Brandon K. Pribyl and his sons, Tobey and Bailey, joined Merrill from Baird Private Wealth Management. They had around $280 million in assets and are based in Davenport, Iowa, according to the spokesperson.

The team, which generated around $1.9 million in annual revenue, is part of the Mid Land Market led by Will Cohen. The senior Pribyl had spent the first decade of his career at Merrill. He was not registered between 2009 and 2016 when he joined with Baird, according to BrokerCheck.
(Updated with clarification on the market manager role.)

The recent rain in Maine is easing the drought that parts of the state have been experiencing since the fall.

Scott Dean, a Spectrum meteorologist, said much of Maine has been at least “dry” for several months. Parts of the state, including Portland, Bangor and Bar Harbor, are under a “moderate” drought. 

Much of the country is also experiencing a drought, Dean added. The Southeast is seeing extreme levels of drought, and the West coast has been under a drought for years. There are many factors that go into this, including climate change, weather patterns like El Niño and La Niña and other factors. 

And, when an area does experience drought, it can become a feedback loop. With less moisture in the ground and atmosphere, the drought can “feed upon itself,” Dean said. 

“It takes a while to get into a drought and it also takes a while to get out of one,” Dean said.

But, the rainy days in Maine have been alleviating the drought, Dean said. And, the trend is likely to continue — the forecast is predicting above average levels of precipitation for the next three to four weeks.

“Hopefully, we are continuing to head in the right direction as the drought has eased in these areas,” Dean said.

In fact, if these rains do continue, Maine could come out of the drought sometime this summer.