The Pittsburgh Steelers have taken a couple swings at the quarterback position this offseason. They attempted to retain Justin Fields before he signed with the Jets. Then, they reportedly made an offer on Sam Darnold, who wound up in Seattle. Since then, it’s feeling like Aaron Rodgers is their only real option. However, the Steelers do have a Plan B (although it feels like Plan Z at this point) in Kirk Cousins.
Cousins doesn’t have the hottest market this offseason. He’s also under contract with the Atlanta Falcons, so any team that wants the 13th-year veteran would have to trade for him. However, the Browns and Steelers remain options for him, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Florio admits that while Cousins wouldn’t be the ideal option for the Steelers, they may have no other choice.
“To the extent the Steelers witnessed his post-Achilles struggles in Week 1 last year, they might not be thrilled about casting their lot with a player who has lost the footrace with Father Time. (Especially since they did precisely that a year ago.),” Florio wrote. “But if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t sign (and he still has his arm, despite his advanced age), the Steelers will be stuck.”
Cousins is in one of the more confusing situations we’ve seen from a QB in recent memory. Just last offseason, he signed a massive contract with Atlanta, but the Falcons also used a top-10 draft pick on QB Michael Penix almost two months later.
Cousins ended up playing poorly. To be fair to him, he was 36 last season and coming off an Achilles injury. However, we did see Rodgers, who’s slightly older and was recovering from the same injury, start to improve over the second half of the 2024 season. That wasn’t the case with Cousins. He never got into a groove and was benched for Penix toward the end of the year.
Cousins has a history of solid performances in this league. So his name still comes up despite his 2024 performance. While Florio notes the Steelers and Browns are two teams that potentially have interest in Cousins, he does think the Browns are a more logical landing spot for him.
“The Browns make more sense than the Steelers, for a couple of reasons,” Florio wrote. “First, coach Kevin Stefanski spent two years with Cousins in Minnesota. Second, Cousins has a low salary for a veteran starter — and the Browns could instantly restructure his $27.5 million, creating nearly $21 million in cap space.”
At the end of the day, Cousins just wants to play football in 2025. Cleveland could be a better spot for him since he wouldn’t be stepping into a locker room that’s expecting good performances and a playoff push. In Cleveland, he’d have less pressure and does have history with Kevin Stefanski.
If the Steelers can’t sign Rodgers, they’ll look toward the draft. With the 21st overall pick and no second rounder, though, they could be out of luck there as well. If that’s the case, then Kirk Cousins becomes an emergency option. Until then, though, there doesn’t seem to be much of a chance of Cousins playing for the Steelers in 2025.
