Suppose the Pittsburgh Steelers get left empty-handed after a lengthy wait for Aaron Rodgers. Would they look for an alternate veteran option to increase their chances of being successful this season? Kirk Cousins, who was benched by the Atlanta Falcons last year in favor of a rookie, has emerged as the most likely option.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Cousins is firmly on their radar and may be moving up their list of priorities with each passing day that Rodgers delays his decision.
“When I check with people there, I kinda hear the same thing — ‘We remain optimistic,'” Fowler said via ESPN’s NFL Live this afternoon. “I do sense Cousins is, at the very least, a plan B for them, that he’s on their radar depending on how things go in OTAs with what they currently have.”
What they currently have is Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson, and Will Howard.
Rudolph has several years of history with the Steelers on his side and a 2023 win streak to get them into the playoffs, but he is battling the reality of a poor 2024 season with the Tennessee Titans in his failed launch away from the Steelers.
Thompson has some experience and is entering year four in the league. Still, he will have to beat out his former K-State teammate, as Howard carries the pedigree of being a rookie who just won the National Championship in college.
Dan Graziano said this morning via SportsCenter that the Steelers are viewing Rodgers’ absence at OTAs as an opportunity to see what they have in the rest of the quarterback room. Could it be possible that they are actively using that time to evaluate whether or not Cousins is worth bringing in?
It’s important to note that none of Cousins, Rudolph, or Rodgers had a good 2024 season. So if Rodgers doesn’t sign, they need to gamble on who is more capable of bouncing back. P-G’s Gerry Dulac stated earlier today that the Steelers would look for a veteran to back up Rudolph if the Rodgers deal falls through. If they were to trade for Cousins, he would pretty obviously be the starter.
The argument for Cousins is similar to the one that’s been made for Rodgers over the last three months. He is an extra year removed from an Achilles injury, which typically takes over a year to fully recover from. Cousins has even more of a reason to be optimistic about that bounceback than Rodgers.
Cousins suffered his Achilles injury at the very end of October in 2023, while Rodgers’ injury occurred seven weeks earlier in Week 1. Cousins is also nearly five years younger than Rodgers. Typically, injuries are tougher to bounce back from the older that players are.
If they can get the pre-injury 2023 version of Cousins, it would be worth whatever salary they have to pay, so long as it doesn’t jeopardize their stockpile of draft picks in 2026 in any significant way. The June 1st deadline came and went, which means the Falcons can now spread out some dead money if they trade him.
It’s worth keeping an eye on the possibility of a Kirk Cousins trade if Rodgers makes the team wait beyond mandatory minicamp on June 10th.
Recommended for you