Steelers round out QB room with former Bills backup

Moving on from their entire 2023 quarterback group, the Steelers have an interesting replacement setup on tap. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields comprise the core components of the 2024 QB room, but the team added a third piece Monday.

Kyle Allen is joining the Steelers, per ESPN.com’s Brooke Pryor. The well-traveled passer spent last season with the Bills as Josh Allen‘s backup. As long as both Wilson and Fields are on the Steelers, the former Carolina, Washington and Houston backup stands to hold steady at No. 3 on Pittsburgh’s depth chart.

Additionally, GM Omar Khan said the team is adding defensive lineman Dean Lowry as well. An eight-year veteran, Lowry operated as a Packers d-line starter for several seasons. He signed a two-year Vikings deal in 2023 but found himself a cap casualty earlier this month.

To close last season, the Bills’ two-Allen plan comprised the depth chart on the AFC East champions’ active roster. The team dressed only the Allens at QB against Pittsburgh in the wild-card round. With Mitch Trubisky moving from a Steelers cut back into a role as the Bills’ QB2, Kyle Allen is on the move. The six-year veteran, as of now, has a clear path to becoming the Steelers’ QB3.

A former UDFA, Allen has 19 starts on his resume. Most of them came for the 2019 Panthers, who lost Cam Newton to a season-ending foot injury early that year. Allen then followed Ron Rivera to Washington, factoring into a QB room housing Dwayne Haskins and Alex Smith. Both 2020 Washington passers were out of the picture by 2021, with Haskins a backup in Pittsburgh and Smith retiring. Allen stood as Taylor Heinicke‘s backup for most of the 2021 season. He overtook Davis Mills as a Texans starter for two games in 2022 but ceded the job back to the former third-round pick soon after, ultimately relocating as the team signed Case Keenum last year.

Over his career, Allen is a 62.6 percent passer who is 7-12 as a starter. He has thrown 26 touchdown passes, a number that notably tops Kenny Pickett‘s total amassed in 24 career starts, compared to 21 INTs. Unless the Steelers part with Wilson or Fields this year, Allen would seem positioned as a third-stringer. The Steelers also may look to the draft to round out this position, but considering they have expressed interest in having both Wilson and Fields come back for 2025 — a setup that would seem untenable — a rookie arm may not be in the cards next month.

Lowry, 29, made 80 starts for the Packers from 2017-22. The former fourth-round pick was one of the more durable players during much of this stretch, not missing a game from 2017-21. Lowry played opposite Kenny Clark in the Packers’ 3-4 scheme and was brought in to start in Minnesota. But Lowry’s two-year, $8.5M contract only produced four starts. The Vikings benched the veteran interior D-lineman, who needed an IR stint for a second straight season.

The longtime Green Bay starter needed pectoral surgery while in Minnesota, but Jonathan Bullard had seen more time up front last year. Lowry’s ironman run ended late in the 2022 season, when he sustained a calf injury. During his most recent full season (2021), Lowry totaled five sacks and four pass deflections. He started for three straight Packers teams that secured playoff byes.

The Steelers still have stalwart Cameron Heyward under contract, ahead of what would be a 14th NFL season, and re-signed Larry Ogunjobi last year. A rotational role seems likely for Lowry at this point.