Early in the offseason, the thought of keeping four quarterbacks on the Pittsburgh Steelers' 53-man roster almost seemed too far-fetched. This is something that rarely happens around the NFL, and during Mike McCarthy's head coaching tenure, there have been times when he's only had two quarterbacks on his active roster.
But that didn't stop the Steelers' HC from making Will Howard part of the team.
Howard had a respectable training camp with the Steelers, but back-to-back disappointing preseason games to close out his 2026 exhibition campaign left him looking like an obvious cut candidate. The 2025 sixth-round pick showed poor decision-making while frequently looking skidish in the pocket.
As a result, Howard finished his 2026 preseason throwing for 229 yards on 39 attempts (5.8 yards per attempt) to go with two touchdowns and three interceptions. This equated to a dismal 67.1 passer rating in the preseason.
But despite his struggles, McCarthy hinted that Howard would make the roster... and indeed he did.
As the Pittsburgh Steelers released their final roster cuts, ESPN insider Adam Schefter first broke the news that the team did, in fact, keep all four quarterbacks on the team. Now this polarizing decision is already stirring up debate among Steelers fans.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans are split on the team's decision to keep QB Will Howard, four total quarterbacks
To many fans, the Steelers' QB room felt obvious. Aaron Rodgers was always going to be the starter for the 2026 season. Meanwhile, throughout August, it became increasingly clear that Mason Rudolph was going to be the backup, while 2026 third-round pick Drew Allar flashed all of the tools and potential fans wanted to see in a young quarterback. Those were the obvious three.
We would have thought this meant that Howard would have been the odd man out. But this wasn't the case.
Despite his struggles, Howard was handed a spot on the Steelers' 53-man roster—a spot many fans felt should have gone to a player more deserving. Jarrett Bailey of SB Nation, for example, argued that cornerback Doneiko Slaughter—who had an impressive summer— deserved to make the team over Howard.
Meanwhile, former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex could not make sense of the negativity surrounding Howard making the team. Essex shared his thoughts in an X post:
"I’m not understanding this negativity towards Will Howard. We must not be watching the same film. He showed me plenty of potential that he can operate this offense at a high level. His poise and movement in the pocket impressed me a lot considering we didn’t get the greatest OL play. Not the strongest of arms but strong enough."
Personally, I'm on Bailey's side with this one. While Essex argued that there would have been a zero percent shot of Howard circling back to the practice squad, so be it if that had been the case.
Here's my thought: Howard was neither good enough to beat our Mason Rudolph for the QB2 job this year nor does he possess the traits/upside to compete with Allar as an option in 2026.
Howard is unlikely to see the football field at all this season. The Ohio State championship QB will turn 26 years old next offseason and likely have zero NFL snaps under his belt. As a player without an elite tools package and no NFL experience, he would neither be an ideal backup nor an ideal developmental quarterback.
I get what McCarthy was doing here; I really do. There's no question that quarterback is the most important position in football, and the Steelers head coach is trying to give himself as many throws at the dartboard as possible to find the answer after Rodgers.
However, the decision to keep Will Howard on the Steelers' 53-man roster over more deserving players like Lew Nichols, Doneiko Slaughter, and Elandon Roberts instantly had the fanbase divided.
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