{"id":816944,"date":"2026-03-17T11:49:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/816944\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T11:49:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:49:14","slug":"nfl-insider-says-steelers-arent-high-on-will-howard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/816944\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL insider says Steelers aren\u2019t high on Will Howard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 2026 NFL Draft is over a month away, but the drama surrounding the first round never seems to rest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Pittsburgh will be the epicenter for the NFL world from April 23 to April 25 as the North Shore will host seven rounds of selections. The Steelers added significant pieces in wide receiver Michael Pittman, cornerback Jamel Dean, running back Rico Dowdle, and defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day at the turn of the league year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Aaron Rodgers\u2019 future remains a mystery. Quarterback remains the most glaring hole on the franchise\u2019s roster. NFL insider Mike Florio of NBC\u2019s Pro Football Talk heard that the Steelers might not like their current internal options as much as they are leading on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Florio indicates the Steelers aren\u2019t as high on Will Howard as they say and may be looking for a different young quarterback to move forward with.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI hope they\u2019re trying to keep their cards close to the vest and hope that Ty Simpson slips to them,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/theponiexpress\/status\/2033611017142301156?s=46&amp;t=N2Ft50p-TgXY6uljxpiPEQ\" rel=\"nofollow\">Florio said on Pro Football Talk. <\/a>\u201cAll that Will Howard stuff is just smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Steelers own the 21st pick in the draft, and Simpson is considered by many, including ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper, as the second-best quarterback on the board. Fernando Mendoza is the significant favorite to go first overall, but the waters are murky following the Heisman Trophy winner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Steelers have waxed poetically about what the future could hold for Howard, a 2024 sixth-round pick who hasn\u2019t taken one NFL snap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Mike McCarthy spoke glowingly of Howard at his introductory news conference, and Khan said McCarthy is looking forward to working with the former Ohio State quarterback. Despite this, Florio isn\u2019t buying it and thinks the team may want to draft Simpson in the first round to be the next face of the franchise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">He also believes the Steelers want Rodgers back to start next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI think they\u2019d like to get Ty Simpson and Aaron Rodgers, based on some stuff I\u2019ve heard,\u201d Florio said. \u201cI think they\u2019d like to get Ty Simpson and Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers plays for one more year, then Simpson takes over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Simpson started only 15 games in his collegiate career after waiting behind Jalen Milroe. He passed up the opportunity to return to college. He completed 64.5% of his passes and combined for 30 total touchdowns, 28 through the air, and turned the ball over 11 times (six fumbles and five interceptions) as Alabama became the first three-loss team to make the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is over a month away, but the drama surrounding the first round never seems&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,2376,2374,12052,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-816944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-draft","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-rumors","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116244366464005022","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}