Per multiple recent reports, people within the Pittsburgh Steelers expect that 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers will soon confirm he’s returning to the organization to serve as its starting quarterback for the 2026 season.
That said, some have suggested that the Steelers could land an advertised Rodgers successor, such as Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller Ty Simpson, during the first round of the upcoming draft. On the latest edition of his podcast, Steelers legend and retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger advised his former club to punt on finding a future QB1 down the road.
Ben Roethlisberger “strongly” against Steelers drafting a project
“I’m still very, very strongly going against getting a quarterback in the first round,” Roethlisberger explained, per Troy Montgomery of Steelers Depot. “I wouldn’t even get one in the second round. If you’ve got those [third-round picks] and you’re not gonna do something with them, if you want to try to grab someone in the third round that you really like, maybe there.”
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky is among NFL analysts who think Simpson could prove doubters wrong later in his career, if not during the 2026 season. However, others have warned that Simpson has “questionable first-round talent” at best.
This past Monday, Mike DeFabo of The Athletic shared that the Steelers met with Simpson, Penn State’s Drew Allar and Miami’s Carson Beck during last week’s scouting combine. Back in January, ESPN’s Jordan Reid noted that Allar and Beck project to be “Late Day 2-Early Day 3” draft talents. Roethlisberger isn’t keen on the Steelers spending noteworthy draft assets on any of those options.
Ben Roethlisberger preaches patience regarding Steelers’ quarterback situation
“I wouldn’t package my third-rounders to move up to get a second-round quarterback,” Roethlisberger continued. “I would not mess with a quarterback this draft, unless you want to snag one in the late-third or fourth round. Just someone to compete to have extra bodies, one of those whatevers.”
Some think the Steelers already have “one of those whatevers” on the roster in 2025 sixth-round draft pick Will Howard, who took no regular-season in-game snaps as a rookie. Pittsburgh may or may not be high on Howard, but he likely will remain with the club as long as Rodgers returns to open the 2026 season as its starter.
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