The quarterback situation in the Pittsburgh Steelers was expected to center on whether Aaron Rodgers would return. If he did, the picture was clear. If not, Will Howard was in line to take over. But after the draft, two things stand out. Rodgers’ status remains unresolved, and Howard now has direct competition in Drew Allar. And this week, head coach Mike McCarthy offered insight into how he views both the young quarterbacks.

“Yeah, definitely. We’ve talked about quarterbacks for 20 years, and it’s all about adding the right people to the room. We know what Aaron Rodgers means to this team if he comes back,” McCarthy told Adam Schein, when asked what Allar’s selection means for the QB depth chart. “Will Howard is someone I’m extremely excited about. I think our time together, this short time, there’s a lot there to work with, and I think he’s going to be definitely a starter in this league.”

That phrasing is telling. It suggests McCarthy is still operating under the assumption that Rodgers could return for one more season in Pittsburgh before stepping away. Otherwise, Howard might have been labeled the starter for this team, not just a future starter in the league. The distinction is subtle, but it stands out.

At the same time, the situation does place pressure on McCarthy. Howard, a former sixth-round pick, missed his entire rookie year after fracturing his hand. Entering this offseason, with Rodgers’ future unclear, he and Mason Rudolph were the only quarterbacks under contract. Because of that, many expected Howard to take the lead role.

Ben Roethlisberger was among those who supported that approach.

“If (Aaron Rodgers) decides, ‘Hey, I’m done. I’m gonna do my thing.’ I would absolutely still not draft a guy in the first round. I would ride with Will Howard for a couple years, give him a chance, keep building this team around,” he said last month. “I would go O-line first in the draft, get a guard, and I would just absolutely build this team around Will Howard right now.”

When the Steelers opened the first phase of their offseason program before the draft, Howard reportedly handled QB1 reps. However, the dynamic shifted once Allar was taken in the third round at No. 76 overall, adding a legitimate competitor to the mix.

McCarthy, though, does not seem to frame it strictly as a competition. Instead, he views it as building a complete room, especially with uncertainty still surrounding Rodgers and a second-year quarterback still developing.

“I mean, it’s a really good room for Drew to come into. And, you know, he needs to come in. He’s a rookie. He needs to learn it. But there’s a method to how we train the quarterback position, and I’m just trying to have the best competitive quarterback room that we possibly can have. And I think we definitely accomplished that by drafting Drew,” McCarthy added.

Even before the draft, McCarthy emphasized wanting four quarterbacks on the roster for 2026. With Allar now in place, the group sits at three. And while the goal is a competitive room, the expectation remains that if Rodgers decides to return, the real battle will shift toward determining who backs up the veteran.

Mike McCarthy addresses how Aaron Rodgers would fit in Pittsburgh

The Steelers have made it clear they want Aaron Rodgers back for one more season. But Mike McCarthy was recently asked how the 42-year-old would fit with this group. And his answer came from two perspectives, first as a fan, and then as a head coach. He explained that during the 2025 season, he watched several Steelers games simply as a fan. From that view, McCarthy felt Rodgers in Pittsburgh “was a good fit.”

Now, though, his perspective has shifted. Speaking as the head coach, McCarthy pointed to what he has seen internally and how Rodgers is viewed inside the building. He said:

“Now being here, you can just see the respect and how the locker room feels about him. So, I do know for a fact that it would be a great thing to have him back, just purely as the quarterback of the team. And frankly, something that him and I have talked about, we’ve talked exclusively about what a great final tap there just could be for both of us. So, hopefully it ends up that way.”

A potential return would carry weight for McCarthy, reuniting him with his former Super Bowl-winning quarterback. But whether that reunion actually happens remains the biggest question. Art Rooney II initially expected a decision before the draft, but adjusted that stance as the process dragged on. And once the draft weekend was over, the Steelers placed an undrafted free agent tender on Rodgers.

For now, the wait continues. The expectation, though, is that Rodgers will arrive at a decision sooner than he did last year, even if there is still no clear timeline in place.