Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan repeatedly stated that all options are on the table at quarterback when addressing the media at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Mike Tomlin echoed a similar sentiment at a NFL owners meetings breakfast by saying that they wouldn’t rule out any way of acquiring a quarterback, including a first-round pick. According to Adam Schefter, that last bit might just be talk.
“I can’t imagine, nor could they, that Shedeur Sanders would somehow slip that far. Let me say for the record right now, despite speculation to the contrary, I will be surprised if the Pittsburgh Steelers take a quarterback in Round 1,” Schefter said via ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike this morning. “I don’t think they’re drafting a quarterback in Round 1. That’s me based on conversations with a lot of different people.”
In my mind, the only way they would draft a quarterback in Round 1 is if Sanders fell to them at No. 21. They don’t have the draft capital to move up for him, and they certainly don’t have the draft capital to move all the way up for Cam Ward. I am personally not on board with Jaxson Dart or Jalen Milroe being a first-round talent, though many are mocking Dart in the first round and there is a report about the Steelers being interested in Milroe at No. 21.
Especially without a second-round pick, it would be risky business to take such a swing at the quarterback position in the first round for what many would consider a massive reach. The issue is, Aaron Rodgers continues to string the team along with no timeline for his decision. Tomlin even suggested that training camp would be the loose deadline for a decision, which would leave the Steelers with a lot of uncertainty entering the draft.
While nothing can be entirely ruled out based on Khan and Tomlin’s words, it sounds like Schefter is strongly leaning toward a first-round quarterback not being in the cards.
So what would the backup plan be? From one 2023 Achilles tear to the next, the Steelers could break the glass in an Aaron Rodgers emergency and opt for Kirk Cousins.
“I also believe that the break-the-glass emergency plan for Pittsburgh, for Cleveland, for Minnesota if it doesn’t have a backup, the break-the-glass emergency plan is you can always say ‘I’m gonna trade a draft choice to the Atlanta Falcons for Kirk Cousins,'” Schefter said. “You can always say ‘We’re gonna take on some of his salary.’ I think Kirk Cousins is sitting there as the break-the-glass emergency option for one of those teams.”
I’m not sure which option is worse. Using a first-round pick to reach for a quarterback or trading a third-round pick for late-career Cousins. Josina Anderson reported that a third-round pick might be “potentially actionable” for Cousins. This would leave the Steelers selecting at No. 21 and then not again until No. 123 in the fourth round. For a team with several needs, that doesn’t seem logical.
If the Steelers are dead set on getting a quarterback and Rodgers decides against Pittsburgh, I would rather end up with somebody like Joe Flacco on a cheaper salary and no draft compensation. And between a first-round reach and a trade for Cousins, I would choose the former. Let’s hope the Steelers don’t have to make a decision between bad and worse.
