Rather than search for their next quarterback early in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ all-time leading passer wants the team to prioritize other needs first.
“I think too many teams try and get a quarterback … and they build a team around a quarterback,” retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Wednesday on the ‘DVE Morning Show. “I think that can work sometimes if the quarterback is a quote-unquote can’t-miss type quarterback. … I think those are a few and far between nowadays.”
Roethlisberger pointed to the Arizona Cardinals as a good example of a failed attempt. The Cardinals are reportedly releasing quarterback Kyler Murray, the first-overall pick in the 2019 draft.
“They got him and then tried to build a team around him,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m a proponent of building a team and then finding your quarterback to plug into that team, because then you can kind of maybe take a chance here or there. And if it doesn’t work, you’re like, ‘OK, I’m going to get a different guy.’”
Roethlisberger was a first-rounder who had immediate success. He went 13-0 as a rookie as the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft, but he considered that a prime example of a young quarterback stepping into an ideal position.
“The team was there and then I got plugged in,” Roethlisberger said. “I think I got put into a really good situation. Build the team and then you can put your quarterback into it.”
He acknowledged that the biggest variable is whether quarterback Aaron Rodgers returns or retires. If he does come back, Roethlisberger said the Steelers’ offense could potentially “explode” in a good way. He credited Rodgers’ familiarity with the roster and a potential reunion with former coach Mike McCarthy.
But if Rodgers doesn’t return, Roethlisberger said second-year player Will Howard should be the Steelers’ starting quarterback.
“I don’t think the Steelers should go get a quarterback any time in the first couple of rounds,” Roethlisberger said. “Don’t go get (Alabama quarterback Ty) Simpson or (Penn State’s Drew) Allar. Don’t do that. Build the team. Get receivers, get corners, get line. Build this team.
“And if you put Will in and Will is not worth a lick, then guess what, you’re going to have a not good season. … You’re going to get a top pick and you can find out if there’s a good quarterback that you want in the (2027) draft. But while you were waiting and seeing what Will Howard did, you were building a team that you can plug a young quarterback into.”
If Rodgers doesn’t return to the Steelers, Roethlisberger suggested the Steelers sign a veteran quarterback to help Howard, naming Marcus Mariotta and Carson Wentz as options.
A sixth-round pick in 2025, Howard sustained a hand injury in training camp and didn’t appear in any games last season. Still, Roethlisberger said the 24-year-old national champion at Ohio State, impressed him as a guest on his “Footbahlin” podcast.
“I could just see in his eye and the way he talked how much he wanted to be here,” Roethlisberger said. “Because you look at that draft class, and I’m not going to say anybody’s name, but … when he got drafted in the sixth round, what did he do when he got drafted? He asked for the playbook. He wanted to dive into the offense.
“There are other quarterbacks that were taken late that we’re celebrating and doing this, that and the other. I just like the fact that he’s like, I’m ready to go, like, I want to dive into this thing. He just has a heart and a passion for it.”
Roethlisberger joked that Steelers fans are starting to think he and Howard are somehow related because of his praise.
“He may go out there and not be worth a lick, and I’ll be like, ‘You know what, I was wrong,’” Roethlisberger said. “But how do we know if we don’t give him a chance?”