Steelers A to Z: Part of infamous Pickett draft class, Skylar Thompson enters camp as QB4

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 SKYLAR THOMPSON

Experience/age: Fourth season, 28

Contract status: $1.1 million cap hit if he makes the team in 2025, after which would be an unrestricted fee agent

The past: Thompson started 40 of the 45 games he played over five seasons at Kansas State — the final two seasons of which, he had a young backup named Will Howard. (Howard was the Steelers’ sixth-round pick in April.) Thompson was the eighth of nine quarterbacks taken in the 2022 draft — Kenny Pickett to the Steelers was the first, the QB taken prior to Thompson was Chris Oladokun and the one taken after him was 2023 Pro Bowl honoree Brock Purdy.

Thompson went to the Miami Dolphins and ended up starting three games as a rookie — including a playoff defeat at the Buffalo Bills. Since that rookie season, though, the 6-foot-2, 219-pound Thompson has made just one start and appeared in only three NFL games — all coming during last season. But the Dolphins waived Thompson in December and although they added him to the practice squad, he elected to leave the organization after the season ended and signed a reserve/future deal with the Steelers.

Skylar Thompson is the longest continuously-tenured quarterback on the roster. Signed to a reserve/future contract in January, Thompson has four NFL starts on his resume – one in the playoffs – with the Miami Dolphins.@C_AdamskiTribhttps://t.co/1NU7PjzHop

— Tribune-Review Sports (@TribSports) May 28, 2025

2025 outlook: Thompson spent more than two months as the only QB in the organization that was signed for 2025. Even after Mason Rudolph signed in free agency, Thompson was one of only two quarterbacks on the roster. Then, when the Steelers drafted Howard, he was one of only three. It wasn’t until Aaron Rodgers finally signed in June that the team had its full complement of four quarterbacks for training camp — and Thompson was relegated to a role as the “fourth arm.”

It’s difficult to envision — barring injury, of course — Thompson climbing any higher than that or earning a spot on the active roster when the season begins. Rodgers is the starter no matter what, Rudolph is a backup no matter what, and the organization drafted Howard for a reason — they must have a degree of intrigue about the skills of the reigning national championship-winning quarterback.

It’s at least in the realm of possibility, though, that Howard falters badly enough and Thompson performs well enough over these next six weeks that Thompson earns the No. 3 role. That seems highly unlikely. Still, Thompson is an NFL quarterback, so as far as No. 4s go, he’s about as good as there is in any camp. Odds are, by September, he’ll be a No. 3 somewhere else.