There’s still one big game left to be played before the season is officially concluded, but for 30 NFL fanbases, our attention has already shifted forward towards the 2026 NFL offseason. As has been the case for three of the past four offseasons, no question is bigger for the Pittsburgh Steelers than who they will have starting at the game’s most important position: quarterback.
The Steelers have struggled to fill the void left by Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season. They’ve tried
every mode of finding a quarterback since. That includes the draft (Kenny Pickett), free agency (Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Mitch Trubisky), trades (Justin Fields), and even a player that was already around before Big Ben called it quits (Mason Rudolph). None have proven to be a long-term starter or capable of ending the Steelers’ playoff-victory drought.
The path towards finding a franchise quarterback won’t be any easier this offseason. The Steelers are picking 21st overall in a shallow quarterback class. Franchise quarterbacks rarely hit free agency, and that’s no different this year.
So what will the Steelers do? That’s hard to say with a new coaching staff in place and rumors swirling about the Steelers level of interest in retaining Aaron Rodgers. This article is not intended to serve as a prediction for Pittsburgh, but rather a broad view of what options exist.
We’ll put all the cards on the table, and you let us know in the comments what you would prefer, and which moves seem realistic or not.
Internal options
Aaron Rodgers remains an option to return, should he decide against retirement for another year. Rodgers Green Bay connection with new head coach Mike McCarthy was one of the major talking points surrounding the coach’s hiring. Whether Rodgers deserves to be back — or starting anywhere in the NFL — is rightfully debatable. While Rodgers was able to guide Pittsburgh to another wild-card berth, it was painfully apparent he was no longer up to snuff against some of the better NFL defenses the Steelers faced. Rodgers finished 25th in EPA among all passers (-19.7) this season and 21st on EPA per dropback (-0.04). His air yards per attempt (5.9) was by far the worst mark in his career, and was dead last in the NFL among qualified starters. His 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions seems impressive at first blush, until you consider that he had thrown 16 touchdowns (66%) through Week 8, and that his lack of interceptions was more a product of him frequently settling for underneath routes and check downs that wouldn’t put the ball in danger, but also wouldn’t result in explosive, chain-moving plays either. This was especially glaring in the second half of the season, as the Steelers’ schedule got more difficult.
While I personally think another season of Rodgers would be woefully uninspiring, the organization has been signaling that it will leave the door open for the 42-year-old quarterback — at least for a time.
It’s also worth noting that Rodgers only signed a one-year deal last offseason. Even if he elects to return for another season, he’s not beholden to the Steelers. Rodgers publicly flirted with the Vikings before signing in Pittsburgh, and the Vikings have questions at the quarterback position, too. I’m not saying it’s likely, but the option could exist for Rodgers to give it one more go outside of the Steel City.
As for the Steelers’ other in-house options, I don’t think much needs to be said about Mason Rudolph. He seems like a fine guy to have in the quarterback room, but the Steelers and the rest of the NFL have had plenty of looks at him over the years, and he isn’t a starting-caliber player. That leaves soon-to-be second-year quarterback Will Howard. Howard certainly has his supporters in the fanbase, and McCarthy had some nice words to say about the young passer during his introductory presser.
Still, I would be skeptical about Howard’s chances at starting next year, at least at this point in the offseason. The fact is, Howard is behind the eight ball after missing most of his first training camp with injury. Few sixth-round quarterbacks are given a chance to start at any point in their careers, and I think many of the pro-Howard camp are overvaluing his stock because he won a championship with Ohio State. A list of other recent national championship quarterbacks from the CFP era should give some pause to how much weight should be given to that accomplishment:
- J.J. McCarthy
- Stetson Bennett (twice)
- Mac Jones
- Joe Burrow
- Trevor Lawrence
- Tua Tagovailoa/Jalen Hurts
- He Who Shall Not Be Named (currently taking up cap space in Cleveland)
- Jake Coker
- J.T. Barrett/Cardale Jones
That’s not an overly impressive list, and only Barrett and Coker — both undrafted — were selected later than Howard. Leading a national championship team is certainly not a guarantee of NFL success. More importantly, it seems unlikely the Steelers and Art Rooney II — who made it clear he wants to compete each year — would hinge their entire season on an unproven quarterback they haven’t seen in even a preseason game yet. I could foresee a scenario where Howard is allowed to compete for the job, but NFL teams simply do not hand the reins over to a quarterback with Howard’s profile without at least holding an open competition. If Howard is the starter in Week 1 for the Steelers, chances are he will have had to earn it over the summer.
What about the draft?
I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know when I say the Steelers are not in prime position to draft a quarterback. At least not one that the fanbase will be confident in. When looking at the 2026 quarterback class, only two names are really worth keeping on your radar: Alabama’s Ty Simpson and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier.
Simpson comes with some red flags in that he was only a one-year starter and has just 15 starts under his belt. He started the season hot, but struggled some in the second half, especially as defenses were able to exploit Alabama’s nearly non-existent rushing attack to make the Tide offense one-dimensional. Alabama’s tough showings in two of its final three games — the SEC title game against Georgia and a playoff game against Indiana — will have soured some fans’ memories of Simpson’s season, as the Tide offense didn’t look competitive in either contest. Still, Simpson has shown some encouraging pre-snap processing for a player with his limited starting experience, and there are plenty of NFL-caliber throws on Simpson’s 2025 tape. He’s currently generating some fringe-first-round buzz, with some evaluators linking him to the Jets (picks 2, 16), Browns (6, 24), Dolphins (11), Rams (13, 29), Vikings (18), and Steelers as possible destinations. Others have him as a second-round pick.
While he’s far from a safe pick, Simpson should have a higher draft grade than Kenny Pickett did when the Steelers took him in the first round. I wouldn’t blame the Steelers for making the selection, especially with the praise they’ve heaped on McCarthy as a quarterback developer.
Outside of Simpson, Nussmeier is the only quarterback who could reasonably be projected to be a future starter. Nussmeier’s final season in LSU was a disaster. He was hampered by injuries, and the Tigers never truly seemed up to meeting the lofty expectations set for them. As a result, the chances of Nussmeier being drafted in the first round are slim to none. However, he was easily the best quarterback at the Senior Bowl, and the buzz around Mobile was that some teams aren’t going to throw out his impressive 2024 tape just because of this past season. The Steelers have some ties to Nussmeier, too: his father, Doug, was McCarthy’s quarterbacks coach in Dallas from 2020-2022. It wouldn’t be inconceivable for the Steelers to pick the younger Nussmeier.
In either case, drafting one of these two quarterbacks would be more palatable if the Steelers brought in a competent veteran for them to initially sit behind, whether that be Rodgers or someone else.
Free Agency
The free agent landscape is hardly any more promising.
We can quibble over who is the most appealing of this bunch, but the top free agent quarterbacks, excluding Rodgers, appear to be:
- Malik Willis
- Daniel Jones
- Kirk Cousins
- Joe Flacco
- Marcus Mariota
- Russell Wilson
- Mitch Trubisky
- Carson Wentz
- Trey Lance
- Jimmy Garoppolo
Not an inspiring bunch. It’s unlikely the Steelers are looking to reunite with any of their priors (Wilson, Pickett, Trubisky), and aging vets like Flacco (41), Cousins (38 in August), Garoppolo (34), or Mariota (32) come with health concerns and/or haven’t looked like NFL starters in recent years. Jones was making an MVP case during the first part of the season, but he cratered in the second half as defenses started to catch up to the tape, and he suffered a catastrophic leg injury that should have him missing the start of the season. Meanwhile, the former NDSU Bison, Wentz and Lance, aren’t exactly starting-caliber either.
That leaves Willis. The Steelers initially showed interest in him during the 2022 draft cycle, but ultimately settled on Pickett. Willis fell all the way to the third round, and after a few seasons in Tennessee, looked like he was on his way out of the league. Willis was traded to Green Bay for just a seventh-round pick ahead of the 2024 season, which would be fortuitous for his career. An injury to Jordan Love in the season opener set Willis up to start two games — including a matchup against the Titans — both of which the Packers won. He would later relieve Love in another game due to injury and lead the Packers on a game-winning drive. The Packers lost Willis’ only start in 2025, but all told his numbers have been impressive in a limited sample size: 78.7% completion, 972 passing yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions, 261 rushing yards, and three rushing touchdowns. Whether or not he can put up those numbers in a different offensive ecosystem, or cut down on the sacks he takes (11 in 11 games played in Green Bay) is anyone’s guess.
Regardless, with several teams in need of a quarterback and the 2026 rookie class being so shallow, Willis should have a competitive market. With no obvious connections to Pittsburgh, it’s hard to project Willis deciding to sign with the Steelers short of receiving the best financial offer from the Black and Gold. Is that something McCarthy and Omar Khan want to bet on with McCarthy’s five-year window? I have my doubts.
The trade market
Predicting trades is something I generally consider a fool’s errand. Sure, anyone can throw some names out and declare trades a fair value, but in my many years of sports fandom, I’ve rarely seen it done with much accuracy. Fans tend to have different values from what NFL organizations actually end up trading players for, and even if you were to come up with a logical deal, it takes two to tango, as the saying goes.
The biggest name who might be available on the trade market this year is embattled Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. The former No. 1 overall pick has largely disappointed thus far in his career. Whispers about immaturity and lack of leadership have dogged him for years, and the Cardinals shut him down with an injury following Week 5 of last year, opting to go with Jacoby Brissett even after Murray was reportedly ready to return. That they did this in a season where they ultimately earned the third-overall pick and had a coach fighting for, and failing to keep, his job should speak volumes.
Wins aren’t a quarterback stat alone, but Murray’s 38-48-1 record doesn’t help his case. The Cardinals had just one season above .500 with Murray under center, and just one playoff appearance. That Murray completed just 55.9% of his passes in that game for 137 yards, no touchdowns and zero interceptions in that game is all the more damning. Murray’s rushing ability is intriguing on paper, but watch the games and Murray rarely weaponizes this part of his game. His season high attempts (133), yards (819), and touchdowns (11) are all from his second season in 2020.
Kicking the tires on Murray might be worth it for the short term if it only costs the Steelers a Day 3 pick, but any higher demand than that from the Cardinals would feel like a poor use of Pittsburgh’s resources.
Oddly enough, I’d feel much better trading for someone like San Francisco’s Mac Jones. Jones filled in for an injured Brock Purdy this year. Across eight starts, Jones led the Niners to a 5-3 record, keeping them afloat and a huge reason they were able to make the playoffs. Jones isn’t a quarterback I’d make any long-term plans for, but I’d argue that he looked better operating an NFL offense this year than Murray has over the past four seasons. In eight starts this year, Jones completed 69.6% of his passes for 2,151 yards and 13 touchdowns against six interceptions. And while I don’t find QB Rating to be a stat I put a high value in, Jones’ 97.4 passer rating this season is a higher figure than any season in Murray’s career.
Four other names that could theoretically be on the market: Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa, Philadelphia’s Tanner McKee, New Orleans’ Spencer Rattler, and Las Vegas’ Geno Smith.
Of those three, McKee is the most intriguing. A gamble on McKee would mostly be vibes-based, as he has just two NFL starts to his name, both Week 18 games against playoff-eliminated NFC East opponents. In those starts, he’s thrown for a combined 510 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception.
As for Rattler and Tagovailoa, they’re both smaller quarterbacks with limited arm talent. Tagovailoa comes with serious medical concerns as well, and an unseemly contract. Neither feel like investments the Steelers should make.
Smith would be a hard sell to the fan base after he had arguably the worst season of his career this past season with the Raiders. I feel like Smith was set up to fail with how bad the Raiders’ offensive line was this past season, but there’s no denying he has always been a little reckless with the ball. The confidence and decisiveness that are strengths of his game can also be his downfall. While I don’t put all of this year’s interceptions on him, 17 is still too high a number to stomach. He’s also taken 105 sacks over the past two seasons behind two horrendous lines, and it’s hard not to wonder if that’s broken something in him. His previous connection with D.K. Metcalf in Seattle is intriguing, but we’re several years removed from Smith’s impressive 2022 campaign. Smith also has a reputation for being hot-headed, and something tells me his sideline tirades would not be as accepted as easily as Rodgers were this year.
Conclusion
No matter how you slice it, the Steelers aren’t in an enviable spot. Bringing in one of Simpson or Nussmeier with a veteran in front of them — be that Rodgers or an outside acquisition — is likely the best path forward in the short term. However, neither of those rookies should prevent the team from looking at the QB market again in 2027 if they have an opportunity to upgrade the position. As for 2026, the Steelers have made it clear they will not be intentionally tanking, though they could be in for a tough season regardless of who they secure at quarterback. McCarthy has been tabbed as a quarterback developer, and he’ll have earned his money if he fields a solid offense this year.
Which of these quarterback options do you prefer? Who gives the Steelers the best chance to win in 2026? Can any of these options be the long-term answer? Let your opinions be known in the comments!
