Steelers breaking record with UDFA QB suggests depth chart is far from set

The Pittsburgh Steelers agreed to terms with five undrafted free agents following the weekend’s festivities. One of those was a quarterback, who was invited to rookie mini camp and will get a chance to compete for a roster spot.

As Steelers Depot notes, Pittsburgh is one of several teams that doesn’t offer partially-guaranteed salaries to its undrafted free agent signees. Instead, the Steelers offer roster bonuses. They set a record in doing so on Saturday, giving rookie quarterback John Rhys Plumlee $35,000 upon signing.

Plumlee played both receiver and quarterback in college, spending his final two seasons behind center at UCF. At the professional level, he may be best-served as a slot receiver. For now, though, Plumlee will enter training camp as the Steelers No. 4 quarterback with plenty to prove.

Plumlee is as athletic as they come at the QB position. He rushed for 16 touchdowns with UCF before a serious injury took away some of that ability. Now fully healed, he should bring a dual-threat mentality to the Steelers offense if he gets a shot in the preseason.

Updated Pittsburgh Steelers QB depth chart

The Steelers depth chart is set at the top, that much is clear after signing Plumlee. Pittsburgh opted against spending any of its draft picks on a QB of the future.

The Steelers signed Wilson to be their starting quarterback. That will not change, barring quite the push from Justin Fields in training camp. The Steelers recently declined Fields fifth-year option, though an extension could be in the works to secure the former first-round pick’s future in Pittsburgh.

Allen, meanwhile, will compete with Plumlee or any other rookies the Steelers decide to bring into the fold come training camp.

Allen is on his fifth team in five years and has some starting experience under his belt, which gives him a notable advantage over Plumlee. In 30 games played, Allen has 4,734 yards passing, 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.