Who Should I Start? Mason Rudolph or Mac Jones

Wednesday, May 28, 11:59 AM

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph opened OTAs with the first-team offense on Tuesday, according to Brooke Pryor of ESPN. This news isn't much of a surprise, but it does confirm head coach Mike Tomlin's vision as full-team practices get underway this summer. Presumably, the starting quarterback job is Rudolph's to lose, barring an external quarterback addition such as Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. Rudolph's internal competition comes from Skylar Thompson and rookie Will Howard. Thompson has completed just 58.7 percent of his career passes with one touchdown, three interceptions, and two fumbles. He primarily served as a backup over three seasons in Miami. Meanwhile, Howard is a rookie who impressed at Ohio State, but he has suboptimal draft capital as a sixth-round pick. On the other hand, Rudolph has shown flashes of potential during his time with the Steelers (2018-2023) and Titans (2024). In Tennessee last year, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 1,530 yards, nine touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Wednesday, March 12, 10:10 PM

Free-agent quarterback Mac Jones agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday on a two-year deal worth $7 million with $5 million guaranteed, a source tells NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The maximum value of the deal is for $11.5 million. After one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in which he appeared in 10 games (seven starts) due to multiple injuries to starter Trevor Lawrence, Jones will head to the NFC for the first time to back up Brock Purdy in 2025. The 26-year-old looked like a backup in his 10 appearances for the Jags a year ago, completing 65.3% of his 262 pass attempts for 1,672 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. If Jones were forced into significant playing time again in 2025 due to a Purdy injury, he'd at least be set up better with better offensive pieces around him in San Fran.