Pittsburgh Steelers fans were rooting for the Minnesota Vikings to take down the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in Week 9, as the AFC title is largely up for grabs. But despite the Vikings' elite defense, we just witnessed the most deplorable quarterback play you'll see in an NFL game this season. This led to a 23-6 Bills win as Buffalo advances to 7-1.
Minnesota elected not to play starter Kyler Murray in Week 9 because of 'hamstring soreness', but this decision sparked widespread speculation that the Vikings were 'soft-benching' Murray after an extremely underwhelming first half of the 2026 season.
Sadly, Carson Wentz was worse—so much worse.
With the Steelers sitting at 6-2 following their Week 9 bye, there's no chance Aaron Rodgers is for sale. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and general manager Omar Khan can test just how desperate the Vikings are by luring Mason Rudolph as trade bait.
The Pittsburgh Steelers should see if the Minnesota Vikings are interested in a Mason Rudolph trade
Despite a defense that harassed Bills quarterback Josh Allen all night, Wentz could get nothing going on offense. He made poor decisions with the football and failed to move the chains consistently. This led to an egregious stat line of eight completions on 25 attempts (3.2 yards per attempt) with two interceptions.
This equated to a dismal passer rating of just 8.9 and an even worse QBR of 2.3. It doesn't get any worse than this. It was so bad that third-string quarterback Max Brosmer was called on late in the game. He completed six passes for 58 yards in garbage time.
Because of how awful Wentz looked—and because the Vikings understand Murray wasn't doing enough—Minnesota is going last-minute quarterback shopping before the 4 pm ET trade deadline today, NFL insider Jordan Schutlz reports.
"The belief around the NFL is the Vikings will attempt to trade for a QB today as another option to have for this season before the 4 pm ET deadline. 'They won’t sit still,' a source said, 'They can’t," Schultz posted on X.
Rudolph isn't the most appealing option, but he has experience and has played well at times. Perhaps the Vikings would be willing to take a shot on him.
Obviously, a team like Minnesota, with Super Bowl aspirations, wants to aim higher than this. But if they can't pull off a trade for a bona fide starter—or not at a reasonable cost—Rudolph could be a quality fallback option.
The Steelers should make him available.
We are in the waning moments until the NFL trade deadline, and in order to get another option who can come in and compete at the game's most important position, the Vikings may be willing to overpay.
Considering their situation and what we've seen players go for around the league before the deadline, it may not be out of the question to get a fourth-round pick, even though Rudolph is on an expiring contract.
If the Steelers really wanted to play a little hardball before the deadline (assuming the Vikings have no other trade partners), they could try to offer Rudolph and a fifth-rounder for a third-round pick. Look at it this way: Is it better to have Rudolph riding the bench for another eight games, or trade him for a potential mid-round pick? The answer is clear.
There's always a chance the Steelers could be forced to call on their backup quarterback this season if Rodgers gets hurt, but that should be a risk Khan is willing to take. After all, if Rodgers goes down for the playoffs, Rudolph won't be enough to save this team.
Either way, Omar Khan should be working the phones before the deadline, and the Steelers could test the Vikings' desperation at QB with a potential Mason Rudolph trade.
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