Bullet point summary by AI
- The Pittsburgh Steelers face a depth chart logjam at quarterback after signing Aaron Rodgers.
- Mason Rudolph could provide valuable experience for a team needing stability behind their developing starter.
- A conditional sixth-round pick could bridge the gap between two franchises with complementary needs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a quarterback conundrum on their hands after signing 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers to a one-year deal on Saturday. Four passers on the depth chart create a logjam for new head coach Mike McCarthy and it’s obvious which of the backups has to go.
Mason Rudolph, 30, was a serviceable depth option for the Steelers over the last few years (minus a brief stint in Tennessee) but McCarthy looks like he’s leaning into the development of youngsters Will Howard and Drew Allar now. General manager Omar Khan should do Rudolph a favor and ship him off somewhere he’ll have an opportunity to challenge for snaps.
Those options are limited but there’s always a franchise in need of veteran depth and one of them resides in the NFC South.
Sending Mason Rudolph to the Saints saves Steelers from depth chart headache
The New Orleans Saints appear to be riding with 2025 first-round pick Tyler Shough as their starter this year but their backup situation is flimsy at best. Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson don’t supply much confidence for head coach Kellen Moore but perhaps acquiring Rudolph will at the very least push all three to a higher competitive level.
The one thing Rudolph has going for him is his size. At six-foot-five and 235 pounds, he’s a durable product who can be more physical than Rattler and Wilson. He’s also efficient with his passes, completing north of 70 percent of his attempts in two of the last three years. He does need to clean up his ball security, however. Rudolph threw 11 interceptions across the last two seasons for Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
A deal between the two teams would only involve a single draft pick — a conditional sixth-rounder next year — that fairly compensates Pittsburgh but isn’t a mortgage for New Orleans. The conditions on that pick don’t have to tie to either team’s overall success in 2026, instead, let’s say if Rudolph manages to start half of the Saints’ games, then the pick is upgraded to a fifth-rounder. Unlikely but a fair ask.
Rudolph was drafted in the third round of the 2019 draft (No. 76 overall) as Ben Roethlisberger’s heir apparent, but he never truly rose to the occasion. His value has halved over six seasons, but the only reason he’s not a cut candidate is the fact that he’s earned starts and hasn’t crashed out of the league already.
New Orleans needs some more consistency behind Shough, even if he does develop into a solid starter. The team would be one bad injury away from a torched season, but having a veteran like Rudolph behind him gives Moore and Co. a fighting chance to stay afloat.
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