The Pittsburgh Steelers have made their decision on rookie quarterback Will Howard official.
The Steelers announced on Thursday that the rookie quarterback has been placed on injured reserve with his broken finger. That means Howard will miss at least the first four games of the 2025 season, but it’s possible he’ll be stashed for longer.
Along with that move, the Steelers placed rookie cornerback Donte Kent on injured reserve and signed safety Chuck Clark and guard Max Scharping to the active roster.
This was the expected move with Howard after the Steelers kept fellow quarterback Skylar Thompson on the initial 53-man roster. Had Howard avoided IR, chances are Thompson would’ve been cut and brought back on the practice squad if he didn’t get claimed on Wednesday.
Howard suffered the injury on Aug. 5 during a center-quarterback exchange. Head coach Mike Tomlin recently revealed Howard would be back to full practice participation soon, but clearly not soon enough.
Howard wasn’t going to play this season barring a catastrophic injury situation, so this isn’t a big deal. Now, he can continue to develop behind the scenes and the Steelers don’t have to use a roster spot on him.
It’ll be interesting to see just how long the Steelers hold on to Thompson, who isn’t likely to help the team at any point this season and does not have much of a future in the NFL outside of being a backup.
We certainly wouldn’t rule out the Steelers trading Thompson if a suitor emerges, nor would it be shocking to see Pittsburgh cut him in the near future to add more depth at a different position.
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