The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially brought back Aaron Rodgers for one more season, at a healthy price of $22 million (and up to $25 million with incentives). At long last, the team has its starting quarterback entrenched. Rodgers brings a surplus of experience and talent to a position in sore need of it.
Unfortunately, his signing also opens up a massive can of worms about the long-term outlook of this quarterback room.
The new front office has spoken highly of last years sixth round pick Will Howard. Meanwhile, they just spent a third-round pick on Drew Allar. If either wants to see the field, a major injury will have to occur to Rodgers.
This means, more than likely, that this team will once again be looking for a quarterback upgrade in 2027. It could cause more wasted resources and capital for yet another season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers lack any clarity on their future at quarterback
Had Rodgers not returned, it seemed like Howard was going to get his shot at starting. Mason Rudolph would have pushed him in camp, while the team could always threaten to turn to the rookie in Allar if the Howard experiment fell flat.
Now, the only guaranteed time either player will get this year is during the preseason. If that is the only tape we get on Howard and/or Allar, next offseason will likely include another hunt for a quarterback.
That likely means using your first round pick on the position, which feels maddening considering they have drafted two quarterbacks in consecutive years that would have had little to no playing time.
The Howard pick would still be passable. As a sixth-round pick, his odds were always going to be long. However, turning around and using a third-round pick on another quarterback to sit around is infuriating in this case.
It is hard to stomach going into the 2027 season with two quarterbacks who have next to no pro experience. Unless this team pursues the veteran route once again, it feels like another first-round quarterback would have to be the plan.
That means the picks you used on Allar and Howard would, essentially, be wasted. All of that just so you can get Rodgers back, who, at best, gets you to the same spot that you have been stuck at for years as a team.
I’m not saying Howard or Allar is a lock to be a great starter. Odds are both will be miserable if thrust into the starting role. However, giving them that chance is the only way we know for sure what kind of talent they have.
Instead, we get another year of Rodgers to just get us by at the cost of seeing what the future could be. It’s disappointing, and it brings further criticism on why this team felt compelled to use a third-round pick on a quarterback in the first place.
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