This is an exciting weekend across the NFL, with most teams welcoming a dozen or more rookies into the building for the first time to hold rookie minicamp.

It’s also a sobering weekend for hundreds of veteran players. For every rookie who makes a team this fall, that’s another veteran out of work.

That dynamic can cause rifts between players, who are supposed to be teammates but are fighting with each other for one of 53 precious roster spots. And that dynamic was on display the last couple of weeks in Pittsburgh, where star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t exactly give a warm, fuzzy welcome to third-round pick Mason Rudolph.

Appearing on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger openly questioned why the Steelers would draft Rudolph instead of a player who can provide more immediate help, and quipped that he probably won’t offer Rudolph much advice.

“I don’t think I’ll need to since he said he doesn’t need me,’’ Roethlisberger said. “If he asks me a question, I might just have to point to the playbook.’’

Roethlisberger drew some heat from fans and media for his comments, but they bring up an interesting debate: How much do veteran players really owe it to youngsters to mentor them? Football is the most ruthless of professional sports, and few players go out on their own terms. Isn’t it the coaches’ job to prepare Rudolph?

“Ben Roethlisberger isn’t getting paid by the Steelers to do that, so part of me understands it,’’ said Dan Orlovsky, who retired last September after spending 13 seasons with five teams. “It’s not expected of me, it’s not in my contract, and that’s not why teams are paying me.’’

Sure, it would be great if every veteran put his arm around a young teammate and said, “Come here my son, let me show you all of my secrets.’’ But the mentor-mentee dynamic can be tricky if the mentor doesn’t think his career is winding down yet.

Joe Montana and Steve Young famously hated each other. Same with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo were friends, but not with football. The explosive ESPN piece from January stated that Brady “didn’t see it as his role to advise Garoppolo, even on matters as trivial as footwork, as nobody had helped him during his climb.’’ Garoppolo may have helped Brady as much as Brady helped Garoppolo.

“Garoppolo was great for Brady because it gave him a kick in the butt,’’ Patriots broadcaster Scott Zolak said. “You’re looking over your shoulder if Jimmy’s there.’’

Rudolph, to his credit, isn’t expecting Roethlisberger to train him.

“It’s not Ben’s job to teach me anything,’’ Rudolph said. “It’s my job to learn.’’

Tommy Maddox, the quarterback that Roethlisberger replaced as a rookie in 2004, defended his former teammate.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say he owes it. That kind of gets into a little bit of a slippery slope,’’ Maddox told ESPN. “His job is to win football games right now.’’

Of course, many have been quick to point out that Roethlisberger credited Maddox early in his career.

“He’ll meet me halfway out on the field to answer a question for me,’’ Roethlisberger told USA Today in 2005. “I owe so much of my success to his help.’’

And while the Steelers drafted Rudolph in the third round, it’s not like they took a quarterback in Round 1 and expect him to be the heir.

“Do you think that the Steelers are really eager to move on from Ben Roethlisberger and go to Mason Rudolph?’’ Orlovsky said. “I don’t look at it as the Steelers drafted his potential replacement. They drafted a guy they hope they can develop and have a chance with when Ben decides to move on. So Ben’s going to be the guy as long as he wants to be the guy.’’

Orlovsky was never an NFL star like Roethlisberger, but he did survive 12-plus years in the league, and said he never would have been able to do it without help from veterans early in his career.

He learned how to practice with intensity every day from Jon Kitna. He learned how to be selfless and put the team first from Josh McCown. He learned about meticulous preparation from Jeff Garcia.

“When that comes from a veteran, it just hits you differently than it does from coaches or parents,’’ Orlovsky said.

And as Orlovsky became the veteran, he felt obligated to give advice to youngsters such as Mike Glennon and Josh Freeman. He said that his experience is likely common across the NFL.

“I think the more players that you would talk to, more guys would go, ‘Yeah, I had a veteran who helped me,’ and you feel compelled to do the same for someone underneath you,’’ Orlovsky said. “I just believe that it’s a pay-it-forward type of thing.’’

Orlovsky also took issue with Roethlisberger’s contention that Rudolph can’t help the Steelers this fall. Roethlisberger has missed seven games over the last three years.

“What happens if at some point next season Ben goes down for two or three games?’’ Orlovsky said. “You’ve got to hope that Mason Rudolph is ready to play winning football, because those two or three games could determine whether you get in the dance or not.

“Is Ben really threatened by Mason Rudolph? Do you really think the nuggets you’re going to give him over the next 12-18 months are going to be the determining factor in him taking your job?’’

Helping Rudolph be ready to play this fall “is not part of your job description,’’ Orlovsky added, “but it helps your football team.’’

CLOSE TO HOME

News and notes from the Patriots

■ Good news for Tom Brady, he can still lower his helmet and trudge forward on those fourth-and-1 sneaks this fall.

One of the most significant changes for the 2018 season is a new rule banning players from lowering their helmets to initiate contact, resulting in an automatic 15-yard penalty and a possible ejection. The rule was approved hastily in March at the owners’ meetings, and created confusion as to whether Brady could still do his patented QB sneak move.

Per a league source, he can. The new rule is intended to penalize players who use their helmet as a battering ram in space, like a pulling guard taking on a linebacker.

■ The competition committee also has spent the past two months making significant changes to the kickoff rule, which will be unveiled at the next round of owners’ meetings this month in Atlanta. Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge was one of about eight coaches to spend at day at NFL headquarters in New York, working with the competition committee to figure out ways to make the kickoff safer.

Matt Patricia was also at league headquarters earlier this month as one of several defensive coaches helping the committee determine the types of plays that will be penalized under the new lowering-the-helmet rule. A league source said Patricia and commissioner Roger Goodell had a nice hug and chat, the implication being that Goodell harbors no ill will over the T-shirt Patricia wore after Super Bowl LI, featuring Goodell wearing a clown nose.

■ The Patriots passing twice on Lamar Jackson taught us once again not to believe anything we hear about them leading up to the draft. And the same should apply for after the draft.

The Patriots supposedly liked quarterback Baker Mayfield so much they were willing to trade up all the way to the No. 2 pick to get him, even if it cost them all of their first- and second-round picks. And the Patriots reportedly had no interest in Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans, drafted by Tennessee after the Titans traded up right in front of the Patriots and took him.

More likely, the Patriots wanted to meet Mayfield and work him out like they do hundreds of players as part of their extensive scouting process, in preparation for facing the players in the fall. And in order to do so, they had to give the impression to Mayfield’s camp that they were serious about trading up for him.

As for Evans, saying you didn’t want him is what you say when another team nabs the player you want.

■ Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee gave the Patriots some nice bulletin-board material last week, talking about the AFC Championship game to NFL.com: “I’m not over that. A lot of people felt like we should’ve won that. That’s a fact. No offense to the Patriots. They’re a great team, but we should’ve beat them.’’

Sorry Marqise, but blowing a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter does not mean you should have beaten the Patriots.

■ Matthew Slater’s new two-year deal is really a one-year deal with a team option for 2019. The Patriots have until the final day of the 2018 league year to trigger or decline the option. Slater also has a $400,000 roster bonus due on the first day of the 2019 league year, which he doesn’t get if the option is declined.

Defensive end Adrian Clayborn has $1.5 million in playing-time incentives, but they won’t be easy to reach. He gets $300,000 for 55 percent of snaps, $300,000 for 60 percent, $400,000 for 65 percent, and $500,000 for 75 percent. The last three years in Atlanta, Clayborn never played more than 52 percent.

And Troy Niklas has $660,000 in performance/playing-time incentives that indicate he has a chance to be the team’s No. 2 tight end.

He gets $60,000 for 15 catches, $100,000 each for 20, 30, 40, and 50 catches, and $100,000 each for 40 percent and 50 percent of snaps.

ETC.

Ratcheting up the QB pressure

The Jets and 49ers have their shiny new quarterbacks, and neither team is shying away from the expectations.

Jets chairman Christopher Johnson isn’t fooling around with the notion that No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold is going to start on the bottom of the depth chart, nor is he trying to slow down the hype train.

“I honestly think [people] are going to look back 20 years from now and say this is the moment the Jets shifted into a new gear, that they became a great team,’’ Johnson said last week, via ESPN.

And former 49ers quarterback Steve Young said Jimmy Garoppolo has what it takes because he watched Tom Brady for four years and has been a part of the NFL’s biggest stages.

“Now the expectations are huge, and that’s good,’’ Young said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s not going to be, ‘Oh, Jimmy, the expectations are too high.’ He’s like, ‘No, I know how good you have to be. You can expect me to do whatever you want, but I know how good I have to be. I’ve witnessed it.’ It just makes a huge difference. A lot of players don’t have any idea how hard the job is; what really good looks like. And Jimmy’s watched it for four years.’’

Not a fan

Circling back to Ben Roethlisberger, an interesting story popped up last week from Philadelphia 76ers point guard T.J. McConnell, a Pittsburgh native.

“I met Roethlisberger a while ago when I was little, but it wasn’t too good of an interaction,’’ McConnell said on “The Dan Patrick Show.’’ “I respect him as a player, but he wasn’t exactly the nicest guy.’’

McConnell said the interaction with Roethlisberger so upset him that he stopped rooting for the Steelers. McConnell didn’t say what Roethlisberger did, but whatever it was, it made a Pittsburgh kid who was 12 years old when Roethlisberger won his first Super Bowl instantly turn on him.

“I was a little petty and rooted for some teams in our division,’’ McConnell said, “and then I reverted back to a Steelers fan.’’

Extra points

Giants owner John Mara said last week that there is no “sense of urgency’’ to get an extension done with Odell Beckham, and that might be to Beckham’s benefit. He doesn’t exactly have the best contract leverage, set to make $8.459 million this year on his fifth-year option, and coming off ankle surgery that limited him to four games last year. Wide receivers get huge contracts in unrestricted free agency, highlighted by Sammy Watkins’s deal with the Chiefs, which amounts to $34 million over two years. If Beckham can be patient for one more year and bet on himself for 2018, he’ll cash in with a huge contract as an unrestricted free agent next March. Of course, if he’s worried about his ankle, he should take whatever he can get this offseason . . . The state of Florida led this year’s NFL Draft with 35 athletes selected who played their high school ball in the Sunshine State, followed by 27 each for Texas and California. Massachusetts produced two draftees, the only two from New England — defensive back Isaac Yiadom, a product of Worcester’s Doherty Memorial High who was taken in the third round by Denver, and defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, the Xaverian High alum who was a fifth-rounder for Oakland . . . From Pro Football Focus, Deshaun Watson led the NFL with 11 touchdowns off play-action last season, and he only played in seven games with 204 passing attempts. He was followed by Kirk Cousins and Russell Wilson (10 each), and Marcus Mariota and Andy Dalton (nine each) . . . Bears first-rounder Roquan Smith had his team-issued tablet stolen out of his SUV last week in Athens, Ga., among several other items, but stealing a playbook isn’t what it used to be. Bears vice president of communications Brandon Faber told the Chicago Tribune that the Bears “immediately wiped’’ all information from the iPad, which was password-protected, anyway. “There was no compromise of Bears [information] and Roquan was not injured,’’ Faber said . . . First Garoppolo was the highest-paid player in the NFL, then Cousins, now Matt Ryan holds the title, and Aaron Rodgers should have it by the time the season starts. Ryan’s $46.5 million signing bonus is the second-highest ever, behind the $50 million given to Matthew Stafford last September . . . For his work as an advocate for people with ALS, former Saint Steve Gleason was recently nominated to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress. He also will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters from Tulane on May 19. And Patriots receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who could barely read when he got to college but became a children’s author and champion of literacy, delivered the keynote speech at Salt Lake Community College’s graduation ceremony on May 3.

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.