Steelers A to Z: Mason Rudolph is back — and, again, he’s the backup

Editor’s note: From now until reporting day to training camp at Saint Vincent College, TribLive is running through the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 90-man roster, looking at each player and assessing his outlook for the 2025 season. The breakdown will run in alphabetical order with at least two players each day between June 12 and July 23. Contract data courtesy spotrac.com.

QB MASON RUDOLPH

Experience/age: Eighth season, turns 30 this week

Contract status: $3 million cap hit in 2025, signed through 2026

The past: When the Steelers took Rudolph with the 76th pick of the draft 7½ years ago, they proclaimed they had a “first-round grade” on him. Ben Roethlisberger at the time had been named to the Pro Bowl roster each of the previous four seasons and had turned 36 the month before. Roethlisberger went on that season to lead the NFL in passing yards — and made little secret about his disdain for the selection of his would-be successor with a Day 2 draft selection that could have been used, in Big Ben’s mind, to help that current team.

Rudolph is about to embark on his seventh season with the Steelers. According to pro-football-reference.com, only five quarterbacks have spent more years of service with the organization. Only 15 players in franchise history have attempted more passes for the Steelers. But Roethlisberger’s (at best) ambivalence toward him that first season would foretell how the organization would view him.

Though the two-year, $7.5 million deal he signed in March to come back (after a year in exile with the Tennessee Titans) is the fourth contract he’s signed with the Steelers, he’s never really been taken seriously as a starting option. Rudolph made eight starts in 2019 after Roethlisberger underwent elbow surgery. He started the meaningless regular-season finale in 2020 and made a spot start after Roethlisberger tested positive for covid in 2021. It was down the stretch in 2023 when Rudolph shined the most, all but saving the Steelers’ season after Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky were ineffective with the team losing three straight. Rudolph engineered a season-ending, three-game winning streak and started the wild-card playoff loss in Buffalo. For his trouble, he was for the most part ignored in free agency a few weeks later.

.@Rudolph2Mason hits GP for 44 yards ????????

????: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/FsiKqb0TbA

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 23, 2023

2025 outlook: So, Rudolph in March 2024 signed with the Titans, who finished as the NFL’s worst team. He was tabbed as the backup for Will Levis, who ended up being one of the league’s worst quarterbacks. Rudolph, though, didn’t fare much better when starting in place of Levis. He went 1-4 as a starter while completing 64% of his passes for 1,530 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions. With only reserve/future-signed Skylar Thompson on the roster a few days into free agency this past March, the Steelers signed Rudolph. Though they would draft Will Howard in the sixth round the following month, Rudolph spent organized team activities as the QB1. During that time, he — and teammates and coaches — all openly discussed Rudolph as their starter.

But, surely, everyone knew the highly likely eventuality that four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers would accept the Steelers’ contract offer and report at some point over the summer. When that happened a week into June, Rudolph was back relegated to the job as backup. At this stage of his career, that surely is OK by him. And the Steelers could do a lot worse for a No. 2 — an important spot when the No. 1 is 41 years old. Historically, it is more likely than not that a starting QB fails to start all of his team’s games in a given season. Don’t be surprised if Rudolph makes (at least) his 14th start for the Steelers this fall.