Steelers rumors give Will Howard motivation, points to possible replacement for Aaron Rodgers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Click here to add Sports News as your go-to source.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are clearly high on quarterback Will Howard despite not taking the field at all in the 2025 preseason or regular season.
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This nugget comes from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, who reports that the Steelers “really like” the way Howard is developing and the team “believes it could make a difference” in the sixth-round draft.
“The Steelers, on the other hand, really like the development of Will Howard,” Fowler said. “A preseason hand injury hampered his progress, but Pittsburgh believes there may be something to it; his control of traffic, acumen at the line of scrimmage and ability to ingratiate himself with teammates stand out.”
Howard is one of the most intriguing players on the Steelers roster this offseason amid uncertainty surrounding Aaron Rodgers and Pittsburgh’s desperate need to find a long-term answer at the NFL’s most important position.
The 2025 draft pick is the Steelers’ only hope for the future at quarterback, and if Rodgers doesn’t return in 2026, Howard could be thrust into starting competition.
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Another boost to Howard’s stock was comments from new head coach Mike McCarthy, who said he was “very excited” about the Ohio State product.
“I’m very excited about Will Howard,” McCarthy said during his introductory press conference. “I think he really came on the scene at Ohio State.”
While this is all good news for Howard, we still believe there are downsides to him being the starter at the start of the 2026 season.
Even if Rodgers leaves, Howard will have to compete with Mason Rudolph for the starting job, and we highly doubt how competitive he will be. Pittsburgh will almost certainly add another veteran.
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Who could that be?
Fowler noted that the Steelers had some interest in Joe Flacco last offseason and suggested he could be an option for Pittsburgh if Rodgers leaves.
“If Aaron Rodgers doesn’t re-sign there, the Steelers will have a hole. Pittsburgh also liked his free agent profile last offseason,” Fowler said.
The Steelers’ offseason has been lackluster so far, and a quarterback lineup of Flacco, Rudolph and Howard won’t help change that.
However, at least there seems to be hope that Howard will finally solve the long-standing problem at quarterback.
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