We are on the eve of the Pittsburgh Steelers starting voluntary OTAs, and there has been no official movement on the Aaron Rodgers front. While that doesn’t mean news won’t come soon, we still don’t know if and when Rodgers will sign with the Steelers.
The team isn’t publicly putting a hard and fast deadline for when Rodgers needs to be in Pittsburgh. Maybe that’s because the Steelers will be in a bad negotiating spot if they pursue Atlanta Falcons QB Kirk Cousins.
They’ve almost locked themselves into Rodgers at this point. Rumors have swirled that the Steelers will attempt to trade for Cousins if they can’t sign Rodgers. But Atlanta will be able to hold Pittsburgh’s feet over the coals in any trade discussions. They’ll know that the Steelers don’t have any other real options.
Rich Eisen thinks that’s why the Steelers are willing to wait on Rodgers. They feel like they can’t push Rodgers away, otherwise, they lose at the negotiating table.
“If you feel he’s just going to leave you at the altar, well, what that does is it puts you over a barrel in a negotiation to get somebody like Kirk Cousins, you know what I mean?” Eisen said on Overreaction Monday. “But you can sit here and say the minute you lift the phone and call Terry Fontenot and ask what about Kirk Cousins, he knows you’re concerned about Rodgers not showing up, so you’re over a barrel already.”
Right now, the Steelers and general manager Omar Khan do not have any leverage in this quarterback situation. Aaron Rodgers can wait as long as he wants before signing, and the Steelers aren’t likely to pull any contract offer off the table anytime soon. So, Rodgers can continue to go on different appearances and relax rather than rush to Pittsburgh.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot knows that as soon as the phone rings with a Pittsburgh area code, he holds all the cards in trade negotiations. If the Steelers are genuinely calling about Kirk Cousins, that means they’re worried Rodgers won’t sign. And worried teams are desperate teams. You cannot be a desperate general manager, or at least you can’t appear desperate.
The Steelers are trying to make sure they aren’t appearing to be desperate. Head coach Mike Tomlin reportedly has no problem with Mason Rudolph starting in 2025. That could be true, or that’s Tomlin trying to project confidence so the Steelers don’t appear desperate.
But if Steelers general manager Omar Khan calls the Falcons and genuinely asks about Kirk Cousins, that’s a desperate move. And Rich Eisen believes that, as any good GM would, Fontenot would put Khan “over a barrel” and use that leverage to negotiate the best deal possible for the Falcons.
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