As the countdown to the kickoff of the NFL regular season continues to tick, the Pittsburgh Steelers are approaching a deadline to make some tough roster decisions.

The Steelers still have their third and final preseason game to play on Thursday, but they won’t have much time after that to finalize their initial 53-man roster for the 2026 season. By Sunday at 6pm, teams must have their rosters trimmed down to size.

And here in Pittsburgh, the position of most interest when it comes to roster cuts and shaping is, unsurprisingly, quarterback. Four quarterbacks currently occupy spots, led by 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers who is set to embark on a farewell season with the Steelers.

Behind him is established veteran Mason Rudolph, 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard, and this past spring’s third-round selection, Drew Allar. All three men played in the team’s first preseason game, and the two young tossers drew particular buzz for their performance.

Rudolph, now in his ninth year as a professional, did not appear in the team’s second preseason match, a snoozefest for the Steelers and a 17-0 loss to the New York Jets. Howard and Allar did, however, and neither performed all that well. Allar, after a solid performance a week prior, certainly won that battle; Howard was picked off twice, though fans and film-watchers debated on Twitter/X as to how much the intended receiver on both picks, Roman Wilson, was at fault.

Regardless, it was an objectively discouraging start for Howard, one that could have made him a roster casualty in a matter of days. However, reporting from the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac suggests that the Steelers intend to keep both Howard and Allar on the 53-man roster. Dulac also says that the Steelers had made that decision before the game against the Jets.

The retention of Howard, who missed last year’s preseason with injury and took no on-field snaps, as well as Allar, someone new head coach Mike McCarthy has described as a “first-round pick” despite falling to 76th overall, leaves a bit of a logjam at the position.

At the end of the day, only one guy can take the snaps from the center. As long as he is healthy, that is Rodgers. But, if Dulac’s reporting is true and the Steelers keep both Howard and Allar, what does it mean for Rudolph? Is the 2018 third-round pick, once talked about the same way Allar is now, still the backup to Rodgers? Should the Steelers try and take advantage of a desperate team and trade him, similar to Joshua Dobbs back in 2019?

Today, let’s examine in the argument for and against retaining Rudolph.