The Washington Commanders are going to be without one of their quarterbacks for the remainder of the preseason. Thankfully, it's not starter Jayden Daniels. That would be a nightmare scenario. Instead, his backup Marcus Mariota suffered an MCL sprain during the team's 20-7 win over the Miami Dolphins on Friday.
Marcus Mariota non contact injury on handoff. Watch him top left. He’s out of the game.
— Grant Paulsen (@GrantPaulsen) August 14, 2026
Was patting his knee when trainers came out. pic.twitter.com/aBDhMWHTL7
The worst part of it all is it was a non-contact injury. Mariota came up lame after handing the ball off to his running back in the first quarter and immediately pointed to his knee when the trainers came out to tend to him. With just three weeks before the regular season kicks off, Mariota is likely to spend more than that time away from the game.
That leaves Washington's depth chart with a massive hole and not a lot of good local options to fill it. The Commanders may have to turn to another team that's looking to offload a depreciating asset for relief.
This Commanders-Steelers trade would ease fans' stress over lack of depth behind Jayden Daniels
The Pittsburgh Steelers are running with Aaron Rodgers for one last ride but at the same time attempting to determine whether former head coach Mike Tomlin or new head coach Mike McCarthy's pick for the team's future passer will be the better succession plan. Tomlin drafted Will Howard in 2025 and McCarthy chose Drew Allar in April, pitting the two former Big Ten foes against one another.
That's left veteran backup Mason Rudolph in an awkward situation realizing at 31 years old he's going to have to find a new home in 2027. Quarterback needs can evolve quickly across the league, just as Washington has experienced, so why shouldn't the Commanders snag a reliable veteran at a cheap price to provide insurance?
Why the Commanders make this trade
It wouldn't take more than a sixth-round pick to acquire Rudolph, a third-round pick who hasn't seen his passer rating dip below 70 in his seven-year career. Should Mariota, 32, see this sprain become a nagging issue, Washington would have to turn to Sam Hartman and rookie Athan Kaliakmanis for relief in the event Daniels ever goes down. Hartman, undrafted in 2025, hasn't been given a regular season snap and Kaliakmanis is still viewed as an interesting project.
Rudolph has 4,925 career passing yards and 30 touchdowns under his belt as a backup. He was useful in 2019 for Pittsburgh when he was needed in 10 games and then again in 2024 for eight contests for the Tennessee Titans when Will Levis was worse than mayo in coffee. There's a decent sample size that Washington can evaluate and should see as worthy of their attention. Mariota has accrued 5,875 passing yards and 38 touchdowns in the same span.
Why the Steelers make this trade
As previously mentioned, the Steelers' future at quarterback is down to Howard, Allar or a passer selected in next year's draft. Rudolph's contract expires at the end of this season and his career could be in its twilight. Pittsburgh has an opportunity to shop a veteran and get something in return. It doesn't matter if the compensation is a late-round draft pick; that's more than the team thought it would probably get, as he was going to walk anyways.
If McCarthy is serious about developing Allar or at the very least making Howard's tenure as competitive as possible, having Rudolph ahead of both on the depth chart is just going to delay when either gets real snaps. It would be an insult to Rudolph if Pittsburgh finds itself in garbage time and McCarthy taps Howard or Allar to give Rodgers a rest. Flipping Rudolph would be a nominal transaction with much farther-reaching implications for the Steelers.
Add us as a preferred source on Google