Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II is continuing to hold out hope that veteran star quarterback Aaron Rodgers will sign with his team this free agency to solve their starting QB concerns.
Rooney was reported on April 1 saying he will wait "not forever, but a little while longer," for a Rodgers decision. On Wednesday - more than a month and a half later - Rooney was questioned again.
“A little while longer. I’ll say the same thing," he said.
Many signs still predict the Steelers are Rodgers' top choice, but the team is smart to survey other options in case the 41 year old picks something else. Pittsburgh's current QB room features seasoned backup Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard. They are certainly in the market to find a more formidable starter, Rodgers or not.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler has reported this week that the Steelers are keeping tabs on Pro Bowl veteran Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.
"I had some conversations with people this week that led me to believe that Cousins is at the very least on the Steelers’ radar, if something were to fall through on Rodgers," Fowler said to Bleacher Report.
Prior to last season, Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons. The $40 million cap hit Cousins owns this season complicates a trade between the two clubs.
"[Atlanta] haven't shown a lot of interest in trading Cousins, it would take a hefty price tag for another team to wiggle that out," Fowler noted. "As one source told me, if they were willing to take a small percentage, like let’s say $7 million or $8 million of that money, a deal would be done by now. There was interest earlier in the offseason. Right now, Pittsburgh might be the only hope for Cousins or he’s stuck in Atlanta."
Cousins lost his starting job to Michael Penix Jr., putting Atlanta in a serious bind regarding his future. He becomes one of the most expensive backups ever and is physically past his prime, but owing him that much money just to cut him would be a waste. If they can work a trade, Atlanta could officially usher in a younger era under center, but still likely be stuck paying something for Cousins to make any trade happen.
Seemingly every day there is a new report on something related to the Rodgers saga, but each passing day stretches Rooney's patience more and more.
Regardless of how Rodgers views it, his signing window is quickly closing. The Steelers begin OTAs on May 27 and mandatory minicamp on June 10.
While Pittsburgh could wait until July's training camp to hear back from Rodgers, they would obviously want something soon to get him as acclimated as possible.