Steelers news: Ben Roethlisberger apologizes to Kenny Pickett, roster moves, and more

Even in the slow time of the NFL calendar year, it's hard to begin the week without hearing some sort of news regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers. Unlike in years past, the front office has been particularly active since the NFL draft, and a cluster of roster moves were recently made.

Interestingly, the latest Steelers news involved Ben Roethlisberger's apology to Kenny Pickett and the Steelers roster shakeups as an attempt to finalize their 90-man summer roster. Here's what you need to know.

Steelers news:

This is the year of Kenny Pickett, and Steelers fans can't wait to see what this team can do with their loaded 2023 draft class, but you know that Ben Roethlisberger is going to show up in the news every once in a while. Recently, Pickett joined Big Ben in his basement to record the Footbahlin Podcast.

Roethlisberger was open enough to admit that he didn't want Pickett to succeed at first, especially since he thought he still had some gas left in the tank. The former Steelers quarterback apologized for these feelings and told Pickett that he grew to love watching him. Ben also told Pickett that he believes he is the future franchise quarterback of this team.

Roethlisberger and his co-host chatted with Pickett for roughly an hour and a half, and the former quarterback appears poised to become a mentor for Pickett. You can watch the full episode of the Footbahlin Podcast on YouTube.

More Steelers news:

In other Steelers news, Omar Khan is making more roster moves early in the week. On Monday, the team announced that they had signed one player and released three others -- including running back Master Teague. Many expected the former Ohio State product to be the frontrunner to make the Steelers roster as the third running back in 2023 after Pittsburgh did not re-sign Benny Snell Jr.

Also released were linebacker Tae Crowder and edge defender Emeke Egbule. In addition to these moves, the Steelers signed linebacker Ndukwe, who initially joined the team on a tryout basis for rookie minicamp. This brings the Steelers roster total up to 87 players out of 90 total spots. We expect a few other moves to be made in the coming days or weeks. This could even include a notable free agent.

NFL news:

The NFL has officially approved a rule change that allows for an 'emergency' quarterback to play in the event that both the starter and backup are injured. In the past, teams would be forced to designate a 45-player gameday active spot for a third-string quarterback if they had any hope of seeing the field.

Now the third-string QB will not take up an active gameday helmet, but they will be allowed to be dressed and ready to step on the field if the worst-case scenario plays out and the two players ahead of them suffer injuries. This was a necessary move after the debacle with the 49ers in the NFC title game this past year when Brock Purdy was injured and backup Josh Johnson was ruled out with a concussion.