Center Ryan McCollum will be back with the Steelers.
The team announced that they have re-signed McCollum on Friday afternoon. It is a one-year deal for the offensive lineman with no other terms announced by the Steelers.
McCollum was claimed off of waivers from the Lions during the 2022 preseason, but did not make his first regular season appearance for the team until the first week of the 2024 season. He has not missed a game since that point and has made three starts for Pittsburgh.
McCollum also played in 13 games and made one start while in Detroit during his rookie season.
The NFL draft comes to Pittsburgh next month. And Pittsburgh is bracing for an influx of humanity.
Via WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh public schools will be closed from Wednesday, April 22, through Friday, April 24. The development was attributed to “the significant increase in visitors expected across the region during the 2026 NFL Draft.”
“We know it’s not ideal, but it is a reality of a city hosting a big event where we’re expecting about 500,000-700,000 visitors into our city, and it will completely create sort of [an] exciting time, but also some challenging times when we think about accessibility, transportation, and safety,” Superintendent Wayne Walters said.
Pittsburgh public school students will engage in remote learning on those three days.
It’s always hard to know the precise number of attendees at the draft, because the final tally usually includes the same people being counted multiple times as they enter, and re-enter, the perimeter on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
Saturday’s number last year in Green Bay, for example, was higher than Thursday’s because people come and go throughout the most uneventful day of the draft, leaving the immediate area of the festivities and returning. (And leaving and returning.)
Still, even if the official attendance is much higher than the total number of unique attendees, a lot of people will be in Pittsburgh for the draft. Excitement has been building in and around the region for months.
Whatever the real number of visitors to Pittsburgh for the draft, the league has turned its primary offseason tentpole event — which could be conducted by group text message — into a spectacle far bigger than it has ever been. And it all happened because a scheduling conflict at Radio City Music Hall in 2015 prompted the league to say, “Screw it. Let’s go to Chicago this year.”
For those of you who follow this space closely (and thank you for that), this news isn’t news. Regardless, the NFL has announced something you already knew.
The proposals to be considered by owners at the NFL’s annual meetings coming later this month in Phoenix include two made by individual teams.
The league posted on Twitter the proposals from the Steelers and Browns. Pittsburgh wants to make permanent the one-year change that gave teams the ability to speak directly to up to five unrestricted free agents during the negotiating window, and to make travel arrangements during the pre-free agency period. Cleveland wants to expand the range of draft picks that may be traded from three years to five.
Both proposals will require 24 votes to pass.
The league also said that the 2026 proposals from the Competition Committee will be revealed next week.
Not mentioned were the Rams’ proposals arising from the nutty two-point play in their Week 16 overtime loss at Seattle. We’re currently checking to see whether those proposals remain on the table, or whether they were withdrawn.
The bulk of free agency is over, and the Steelers didn’t add a veteran quarterback. They’re apparently willing to wait, again, for Aaron Rodgers.
Hall of Fame defensive back Rod Woodson, a 1987 first-round pick of the Steelers who spent a decade in Pittsburgh, recently chimed in on his former team’s willingness to leave a light on for the 42-year-old quarterback.
“What is it with these ex-Green Bay Packer quarterbacks that they have to be talked about all the time?” Woodson told Rich Eisen. “Because Brett Favre was that way for years. . . . is [Rodgers] gonna play? Listen, I get kind of tired of it. Like, listen, if he’s gonna play, say he’s gonna play, he’s gonna come back. . . . And the team shouldn’t wait for Aaron Rodgers. They need to move forward.”
Woodson believes the Steelers should have drafted Jaxson Dart in 2025. But if former coach Mike Tomlin was leaning toward making 2025 his final season with the Steelers last year at this time, there was no reason to roll the dice on a rookie starter.
This year, it’s different. New coach. New vibe. And some believe they’ll be tempted to take Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, if he slips through the cracks of the top 20. But they’d potentially prefer to let Simpson sit for a season behind Rodgers.
Regardless, the Steelers need something more than a one-year Band-Aid with a veteran whose name didn’t come up once last week. The Vikings and Falcons opted for Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa, respectively. The Dolphins signed the latest ex-Packer quarterback, Malik Willis. And the Jets were far more interested in a reunion with Geno Smith than Aaron Rodgers 2.0.
At this point, it’s the Cardinals or the Steelers or a mid-season Philip Rivers arrival if/when a contender loses its starter. For the Steelers, Kirk Cousins is the most sensible alternative to Rodgers.
Recently, Rodgers said there have been no “progressive conversations” with the Steelers about a contract for 2026. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of his day trip to Pittsburgh, which laid the foundation for his eventual one-year deal. Could another Steel City summit be coming?
This time around, maybe a Steelers contingent led by coach Mike McCarthy will go to Rodgers for the discussions that will, or won’t, result in an understanding for 2026.
Whenever and wherever the get-together happens, it needs to happen soon — if things are going to unfold the same way they did last year.
Which is exactly what seems to be happening.
The Steelers have only two quarterbacks on their roster — Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. Aaron Rodgers remains a free agent with the Steelers as his only clear suitor.
Will their starter be Rodgers, Howard or someone not yet on the roster?
The Steelers are doing their homework on University of Miami quarterback Carson Beck.
Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that Beck is in Pittsburgh today for a top-30 visit at the team facility. The Steelers also met with Beck at the Scouting Combine.
Beck, 23, completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 3,813 yards last season, setting career-highs in pass completions (368), pass attempts (467) and touchdowns (30). He also tied his career-high in interceptions (12).
He led the Hurricanes to the national championship game with victories over Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff.
The Steelers also brought in San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson for a visit on Tuesday, according to Pryor.
