The Pittsburgh Steelers will be carrying four quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster, the team revealed on Tuesday.
According to the Steelers’ official list of 53-man roster cuts, neither Thompson nor rookie Will Howard are on it. Of course, Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph both made the cut, also.
Whether you agree with the Steelers carrying another quarterback or not, it’s hard to argue that Thompson didn’t deserve to make the roster. He was the Steelers’ best quarterback in preseason play and even outshined Rudolph.
So, what does this mean for Will Howard?
Well, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the plan is for the rookie to be placed on injured reserve at some point. That means Howard will be forced to miss a minimum of four games.
Howard suffered a broken pinky finger in a center-quarterback exchange on Aug. 5 and his expected timeline to return was a minimum of three weeks.
The Ohio State product was highly unlikely to see the field at all this season barring a catastrophic injury situation, anyway, so this isn’t a big deal.
There is certainly an argument against keeping Thompson, even if Howard is going to injured reserve. The Steelers would’ve been better served keeping another player at a different position instead of a third quarterback who may never play.
That said, nothing is finalized and it’s possible Thompson could get cut if Pittsburgh needs to make another move.
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