On Friday morning, ESPN reported that the Steelers had fired seniors special-teams assistant Derius Swinton II for a violation of team policy. Later in the day, more information emerged.
Brooke Pryor of ESPN reports that Swinton was fired for “workplace misconduct.”
The nature of the alleged misconduct was not specified.
Swinton, 41, has worked for the Rams, Chiefs, Broncos, Bears (twice), 49ers, Lions, Cardinals, Chargers, and Raiders. He was the special-teams coordinator for the Chargers in 2021. He finished the 2025 season as the interim special-teams coordinator with the Raiders.
Swinton had been hired as part of coach Mike McCarthy’s initial staff. Danny Crossman is the special-teams coordinator.
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The Steelers hired Derius Swinton as a senior assistant special teams coach this offseason, but he won’t be with the team for the 2026 season.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Swinton has been dismissed for a violation of team policy. The nature of the violation is not known.
Swinton spent the last three seasons as an assistant special teams coach for the Raiders and he finished out last season as their interim special teams coordinator. He has been a coordinator with the 49ers and Chargers during an NFL coaching career that has featured stints with 10 different teams.
Danny Crossman is the special teams coordinator on head coach Mike McCarthy’s staff.
Rico Dowdle emerged as the lead back with the Panthers during the 2025 season and posted his second straight 1,000-yard season, but he won’t be back in Carolina for the 2026 campaign.
Dowdle moved on to the Steelers as a free agent, which means that he also didn’t secure a clear path to the No. 1 running back job. Jaylen Warren is back for his fifth season in Pittsburgh and one of the offseason tasks in Pittsburgh is sorting out how they are going to divvy up the playing time in the backfield.
Dowdle said his approach to any competition will have an inward focus.
“We got two guys who can go out there and do the job at a high level,” Dowdle said, via Will Graves of the Associated Press. “The coaches will decide how that goes. And I just come out here and put my best foot forward each day and let the rest take care of itself.”
While Warren is the incumbent in Pittsburgh, Dowdle may have one thing working in his favor. His first 1,000-yard season came with the Cowboys in 2024 while playing for Mike McCarthy, who is now the head coach for the Steelers.
It took a little longer than originally expected, but defensive lineman Dean Lowry is now officially back with the Steelers.
The team announced that Lowry has signed a one-year deal on Tuesday. Lowry joined the Steelers in 2024 and missed last season after tearing his ACL.
Word that Lowry would return to the Steelers surfaced last month, but the deal was never finalized. A report at the time indicated that Lowry wanted to continue to work himself into playing shape before signing with any team.
Lowry had five tackles and a sack in 12 games for the Steelers in 2024. He had 14 tackles and a fumble recovery in nine 2023 games for the Vikings and 252 tackles, 15.5 sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and four fumble recoveries in seven seasons with the Packers.
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has said that, when he’s done playing, he plans to disappear. He seems to be doing his best to disappear while he’s playing.
An interesting exchange happened during Rodgers’s first press conference this week, after re-signing with the Steelers. Here it is:
Q: “We saw the video you getting ice cream over the weekend. You said you’ve been here since early May. What kind of other things have you been up to since you’ve been in town?”
A: “I’m not gonna tell you what I do in my personal time. You already saw I went to that ice cream spot.”
Q: “Are you surprised there weren’t other sightings of you until now? Is that intentional?”
A: “Was it intentional to be sighted?
Q: “To not be sighted.”
A: “No, I just live my life.”
It was a strangely combative response from Rodgers, even if he delivered it (as he often does) with the hint of a wry smile. Why not just say something like, “I’ve been getting reacquainted with Pittsburgh”? Or maybe something like, “I’ve just been relaxing a little bit before getting back to work”?
The reporter wasn’t trying to pry, or to play a game of “gotcha” with Rodgers. It was an innocent and innocuous question. It reflected honest curiosity. Rodgers came to town more than a week before signing his contract. The question created an opportunity for Rodgers to deliver a normal, human response.
It’s his right to protect his privacy. But that can be done without acting like he’s Marlon Brando.
When playing a high-profile position with a high-profile NFL franchise that remains the biggest thing in the relatively small big city where Rodgers has chosen to play, it’s hard to keep a low profile. Rodgers apparently intends to do that this season, even after declaring that 2026 will be his farewell tour.
Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones had spinal fusion surgery this offseason and it remains unclear when he will be able to play again.
Jones is able to do individual work at Steelers OTAs, but has not been cleared for team drills and Jones said this week that no one has set a date when they think his neck will be ready for next steps.
“I don’t really have a timeline,” Jones said, via Chris Harlan of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Reivew. “They didn’t really give me a timeline,” he said. “They’re just monitoring it day by day, and we go from there.”
It’s also unclear what role Jones will have if he’s cleared. Jones was the left tackle in Pittsburgh, but they drafted Max Iheanachor in the first round last month and declined Jones’ fifth-year option. That signals what their future plans are at the position and the rookie could cement a hold on the job by the time Jones is able to play.
“It’s all a business at the end of the day,” Jones said. “I’m coming off a neck injury. Nobody knows what the future holds for me. Of course, they have to do what they do to protect themselves at the end of the day. I don’t have any ill will or anything toward them. I’m down to help Max wherever he needs me. Because at the end of the day, all of us got to be ready.”
Jones appeared in 45 games and made 38 starts over his first three seasons in Pittsburgh.
By announcing on Wednesday that this will be his final season, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has established 2026 as a farewell tour.
It’s an unusual move for franchise quarterbacks. Tom Brady didn’t do it. Peyton Manning didn’t, either. Drew Brees didn’t. Matt Ryan didn’t. Philip Rivers didn’t. Ben Roethlisberger privately told others that 2021 would be his final season.
Rogers is the only quarterback in recent memory to do a 2014 Derek Jeter-style farewell tour. And that’s Rodgers’s prerogative. But it could become a distraction for him and the team, especially in December.
It also could make the Steelers a magnet for late-season flexing decisions; if no specific game stands out in a given prime-time slot, showcasing Rodgers becomes an obvious choice.
All of this assumes 2026 will indeed be Rodgers’s last season. He’s not required to retire. He can continue for as long as he wants, and for as long as a team will give him a spot on the roster.
Regardless, he has done something few high-end quarterbacks do. Nearly four months before the first game of the 2026 season, Rodgers has let it be known that his 22nd season will be his last.
Mason Rudolph was competing for the Steelers’ starting job . . . until he wasn’t.
Aaron Rodgers’ return this week has Rudolph now competing for the backup job to Rodgers. Will Howard and Drew Allar, who have never appeared in a regular-season game, are the other quarterbacks on the roster.
Rudolph expects the Steelers to have a veteran backup to Rodgers, and that veteran is him.
“This is a veteran team,” Rudolph said, via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’re trying to win now. You don’t bring back Aaron Rodgers if you don’t want to win now.”
Rudolph, who turns 31 in July, has started 19 games and appeared in 31 since the Steelers drafted him in 2018.
“We want to make a playoff push,” Rudolph said. “And I know that I can contribute with that veteran culture.”
Rudolph, though, knows he will not get as many reps as the other quarterbacks on the roster. The Steelers want to get Rodgers ready for his final season, while developing Howard and Allar.
“That’s kind of been communicated,” Rudolph said. “That was the case when I got in [the league]. That’s a normal mode of operation.”
Rudolph said he will take advantage of every rep he does get.
Coach Mike McCarthy has said the Steelers could keep all four quarterbacks on their 53-player roster, but either way, Rudolph expects to remain in Pittsburgh for yet another season.
“I’m here to learn my offense,” Rudolph said. “My plans are to be here and to be on this team and to help in whatever fashion I can — and will.”
The Steelers have announced their schedule for this summer’s training camp.
Players will report to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on July 28 for the team’s 59th camp at the school. The first practice session will be held the next day with the first padded practice scheduled for August 3.
Both of those practices will be open to the public. Fans can also come to watch the team work out on July 30-31, August 1, August 4-8, August 10-11, and August 16-17.
The practice on August 8 will be a night practice at Latrobe Memorial Stadium and the team is set to announce its Hall of Honor class for 2026 at the August 1 practice.
Will Howard’s chances of starting games at quarterback for the Steelers this season took a hit with Aaron Rodgers’s return to Pittsburgh this week, but the 2025 sixth-round pick wasn’t lamenting the turn of events on Wednesday.
Howard’s early work in practice this offseason had drawn positive reviews from Mike McCarthy about his ability to be an NFL starter and Howard told reporters on Wednesday that he thinks another year playing behind Rodgers is going to help him progress toward that goal.
“None of us really knew. I think everyone had a little feeling and I had a feeling that he was probably going to come back, just knowing the competitor and the person that he is,” Howard said. “I was excited, I really was, because we really developed a special friendship, I felt like, last year. To be able to have another year with him and to learn from him, for him to continue to pour into Drew [Allar] and also me, is just an unbelievable opportunity for me as a young player in this league to learn from one of the legends that’s been doing it for a long time. So, I’m excited. I just want to soak up everything I can. Take advantage of my opportunities when they’re there and just be the best version of myself every day.”
Howard was the second quarterback into drills behind Rodgers on Wednesday, which gives some reason to believe he’ll beat out Mason Rudolph to be the next man up for the Steelers this season. With Rodgers calling this his farewell season, it could also position him for a better shot at the No. 1 job at this time next year.
