The focus around the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback room before roster cuts was whether Will Howard was going to make the team. Howard did, as the Steelers elected to keep four signal-callers on their initial 53-man roster.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, though, portrayed the Steelers quarterback situation a little differently Monday on The Pat McAfee Show.
According to Schefter, Howard was always going to be on the team. The decision before Sunday’s roster deadline was whether the Steelers could trade veteran Mason Rudolph.
Ultimately, the Steelers kept Rudolph too.
“The Steelers, I think all along, we know they like Howard and Allar. [Rodgers’s] the starter. The question was around Rudolph. They didn’t get anything, offer-wise, that was worth doing,” Schefter told host Pat McAfee. “They like Mason Rudolph as a player, so they’re not just going to give up on him right now.
“It just doesn’t make sense.”
But that doesn’t mean the Steelers couldn’t trade Rudolph during the season. Schefter floated that as a possibility.
“If there’s a team that loses a quarterback to injury, maybe they’re calling Pittsburgh for Mason Rudolph. I mean, that could happen,” concluded Schefter.
Rudolph is 9-9-1 in his career as an NFL starter. He lost his only start during the 2025 campaign.
Could Steelers Still Trade QB Mason Rudolph?
If the Steelers are steadfast on keeping Howard and Allar, the only path forward with three quarterbacks on the active roster instead of four is a Rudolph trade. A lot of pundits would probably be in favor of that, as analysts, such as Charlie Batch, aren’t in favor of keeping four quarterbacks.
Moving on from Rudolph would give the Steelers both of the young signals the team wanted to keep and more practice opportunities for each of them.
Rudolph would have the most trade value of the three backup Pittsburgh quarterbacks too. Although Rudolph didn’t have much value on the trade market in August, that could change in the scenario Schefter proposed.
If a contender loses its starting quarterback, suddenly, Rudolph and other experienced backups become very viable trade targets.
The best stretch of Rudolph’s career came when he won three consecutive starts to end the 2023 regular season. He averaged 9.7 yards per throw with three touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Steelers to the playoffs.
Since then, though, Rudolph is 1-5 as a starter with 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Five of those starts came with the Tennessee Titans in 2024.
In his lone start last season, Rudolph completed 24 of 31 passes for 171 yards.
Why Pittsburgh Needs Rudolph
As far as Rudolph being a Steelers trade candidate, there are other factors going forward besides just another team suffering a quarterback injury.
If the Steelers are in contention, it seems unlikely they would part with their veteran backup when Aaron Rodgers turns 43 in December. That is, as long as Rudolph is the best quarterback option off the bench.
So, to trade Rudolph, the Steelers might have to be out of contention. Or, they would have to feel terrific about either Howard or Allar becoming the starter if Rodgers suffers an injury.
Howard and Allar both have zero regular season experience. Allar played pretty well in the preseason but against opposing backups. Howard experienced an up-and-down preseason. He’s unlikely to provide any more consistency with ample time during the regular season.
The young quarterbacks are both long-term plays behind center. As long as that remains the case, it’s difficult to foresee the Steelers willing to part with Rudolph in a trade.
NFL Insider Drops Steelers’ Mason Rudolph Trade Update After NFL Roster Cuts