The Pittsburgh Steelers finished filling out their quarterback depth by signing veteran Kyle Allen. No one appeared happier about the move than Allen’s fiancée, Summer Juraszek.
Juraszek posted a celebratory message about Allen joining the Steelers in her Instagram story on March 25.
“Here we go,” Juraszek wrote with black and gold heart emojis. “Year 7. So grateful! Love you @kyle_allen.”
Allen will be joining his fifth NFL team in the Steelers. He started 13 games for the Carolina Panthers from 2018-19. Allen has also played for then Washington Football Team, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
He last attempted a regular season pass with the Texans during the 2022 season.
Kyle Allen Joins Steelers as Third-String QB
The Steelers have valued depth at quarterback for the past several years. That’s been even more the case with the NFL installing the emergency third quarterback rule last year.
This offseason, pundits connected the Steelers with quarterbacks expected to go on Day 3 of the 2024 NFL draft. That type of move made even sense for the Steelers after they added Russell Wilson and Justin Fields to the quarterback room.
But instead, the Steelers went the veteran route. Allen will very likely be the team’s No. 3 quarterback and serve as the team’s emergency signal caller on game days.
Mason Rudolph held that role for a majority of the 2023 season. But after an injury to Kenny Pickett, Rudolph entered in relief of Mitch Trubisky during Week 15. Rudolph then started the final four contests of the season, including the playoffs.
Rudolph led the Steelers to an improbable playoff appearance.
Something will have to go wrong again in Pittsburgh for Allen to play significant snaps. But the Steelers will have experience at No. 3 quarterback once more if they need it.
Allen has posted a 7-12 record as a starting NFL quarterback. Interestingly, he won the first 5 starts of his career with the Panthers before going on a losing streak to end the 2019 season.
Outside of Carolina, Allen is 1-5 as an NFL starter. He is 0-2 in two starts over the past three seasons.
Allen was an undrafted free agent in 2018. He has thrown for an average of 6.7 yards per pass with 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 30 NFL games.
Steelers, Bills Essentially Flip Backup QBs
There’s a bit of irony with the Steelers signing Allen. The Bills signed Allen last offseason to serve as Josh Allen’s backup, which was a role Trubisky once had.
A couple weeks after the Steelers released Trubisky on February 12, he agreed to a deal to return to Buffalo as Josh’s backup.
In other words, the Steelers and Bills have exchanged backup quarterbacks this offseason.
The Steelers have completely transformed their quarterback room after three different signal callers led the team to a 10-7 regular season record in 2023. Pickett and Rudolph combined to post a 10-5 record as starters.
Trubisky went 2-5 as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback in two seasons. But he was 0-2 during 2023. In fact, the Steelers lost all five games in which Trubisky played last season.
In addition to releasing Trubisky, the Steelers traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles and didn’t re-sign Rudolph in free agency this offseason. Rudolph signed a 1-year contract to join the Tennessee Titans.
Before signing Allen, the Steelers added Wilson to their roster. A day after trading Pickett, the Steelers then acquired Fields.
