The Steelers have added another quarterback to their roster. No, his name isn’t Aaron Rodgers.
Pittsburgh drafted Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third round, using the 76th overall pick on him. It’s the draft choice the Steelers acquired from the Cowboys in the George Pickens trade a year ago.
Allar joins Mason Rudolph and Will Howard in the quarterbacks room as the Steelers await word on Rodgers about his future.
Allar’s family has Browns’ season tickets, so they will have to change their allegiance.
He played only six games in 2025, missing the second half of the season with a broken left ankle that required surgery. He completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 1,100 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions last season.
In his career, Allar made 35 starts and completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 7,402 yards with 61 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
The Colts were set to make their first pick of the 2026 draft at No. 47 overall. But that’s not going to be the case.
Pittsburgh has traded up to No. 47 and has selected receiver Germie Bernard out of Alabama.
Bernard spent one season at Michigan State, one season at Washington, and two seasons with Alabama in his collegiate career. In 2025, he caught 64 passes for 862 yards with seven touchdowns. He led the team in receptions in 2024 and 2025.
So, after Pittsburgh’s mix-up with Makai Lemon on Thursday night, the Steelers have picked up a young receiver.
The Steelers sent No. 53, No. 135, and No. 237 to the Colts in exchange for No. 47 and No. 249.
Indianapolis’ first pick in 2026 now set for No. 53.
On Thursday night, the Steelers had USC receiver Makai Lemon on the phone before the Steelers were on the clock. It could put them on the radar screen of 345 Park Avenue.
Jake Rosenberg, long-time Eagles executive who left the organization two years ago, has made this observation on Twitter: “Clubs that are not ‘on the clock’ may have discussions with the representative of one or more draft-eligible players not yet selected (or discussion with the players themselves) regarding the player’s interest in playing in the League, playing with a particular club or type of club, the player’s health, or other such non-financial matters, so long as these discussions do not interfere with discussions between a player and the club that is ‘on the clock.’”
A source currently working for a team not involved in the situation tells PFT that this is indeed the rule.
NFL Network televised the video of Lemon talking to the Steelers while the Eagles were trying to reach him. Beyond making the Steelers look foolish, the video may get the Steelers in hot water.
It’s probably not something the league will care about. With the first round trimmed to eight minutes, there will be periodic complications. Ultimately, it didn’t keep the Eagles from getting Lemon. And the embarrassment may be punishment enough for the team that is hosting the draft.
The NFL draft as a traveling reality show keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced last night that 320,000 attended the first round of the draft in Pittsburgh. The prior record was set two years ago in Detroit, with 275,000.
Yes, there are some irregularities when it comes to counting heads. Every time someone exits and re-enters the perimeter of the draft, another “one” gets added to the total.
In Pittsburgh, a sprawling footprint had fans gathered at the stage, inside Acrisure Stadium, and at Point State Park. It was a visually large and impressive showing.
Whatever the specific numbers, and regardless of any creative accounting that could skew toward “alternative facts,” the NFL proves time and again that, wherever the draft goes, football fans will follow.
It helps to get lucky with the weather. The skies can turn turbulent in the spring. One of these years, Mother Nature won’t cooperate with Father Football.
They’ll worry about that until it happens. For now, the goal is about making the numbers as big as they can be, if only to keep stirring the pot to get more and more and more people to show up for the reality show that could be conducted via group text.
As the Steelers moved quickly with the truncated window to make their first pick in the 2026 draft, they didn’t know the guy they wanted was already gone.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Steelers thought receiver Makai Lemon would be available at No. 21. They didn’t know the Eagles had moved up to No. 20 with the Cowboys to snatch Lemon.
Rapoport reports that the Steelers called Lemon without realizing the Eagles had moved up. The Eagles weren’t able to reach Lemon because he was on the phone with the Steelers.
New Steelers coach Mike McCarthy can thank one of his former teams for giving the Lemon pick to a division rival. Without the trade down, the Cowboys wouldn’t have taken Lemon. The trade let it happen.
