Aaron Rodgers’ return to the Pittsburgh Steelers has potential ramifications up and down the team’s depth chart at quarterback.

Will Howard and Drew Allar, who otherwise would have earned a shot at winning the starting job had Rodgers not re-signed with the Steelers, will now battle it out for the backup role.

Because Allar is a lock to make the 53-man roster alongside Rodgers while Howard isn’t particularly likely to be traded or released either, Mason Rudolph is in a position where he may have no path forward in Pittsburgh and thus is the clear odd man out at this stage of the offseason.

Rudolph’s Fate with Steelers Could Be Sealed

It’s going to take a huge upset for Rudolph to lock up a 53-man roster spot over Howard by the time final roster cuts arrive in late August following the conclusion of the preseason.

Pittsburgh knows what it has in Rudolph; he’s a high-floor, incredibly low-ceiling No. 2 quarterback with 34 games and 19 starts of NFL experience under his belt that head coach Mike McCarthy can trust to run the offense if Rodgers is banged up and has to miss any time.

A quality backup is super valuable to any roster, but signal callers like Rudolph who are game-managers with little to no mobility and a lack of arm talent are a dime a dozen.

Having to part ways with Rudolph isn’t going to dictate the outcome of the Steelers’ 2026 campaign regardless of what transpires.

For that reason, it would be hard for Pittsburgh to rationalize keeping him around based on the merit of Rudolph being a veteran and a proven NFL-level quarterback over Howard.

While in theory Allar’s presence and potential makes Howard more expendable than he previously had been in the lead-up to the 2026 NFL Draft, the Steelers would be foolish to move on from the latter unless he shows zero promise of ever developing into a rosterable player.

On that same note, if Pittsburgh comes to the conclusion that Howard cannot at least hold down the emergency No. 3 quarterback role, than what was the point of talking him up so heavily throughout the offseason?

It’s nearly a guarantee that an opportunity or two will open up for Rudolph elsewhere around the league during training camp and the preseason due to injury. With zero upside for the Steelers and $3 million in cap savings should be traded or even cut in a worst-case scenario, Rudolph could very well find himself on the way out of town this summer.

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