For months now, the prevailing notion has been Aaron Rodgers or bust for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Yet, here the team sits at the start of OTAs, and there is still no definitive word on whether or not Rodgers will be in the Black and Gold.
So on the off chance he isn't, Pittsburgh is keeping their eye on name in particular...
Pittsburgh could initiate Kirk Cousins trade if Aaron Rodgers doesn't sign
"I had some conversations with people this week that led me to believe that [Kirk] Cousins is, at the very least, on the Steelers’ radar if something were to fall through on Rodgers," said ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on SportsCenter. "Cousins has $37.5 million in guarantees between this year and next year. Somebody’s on the hook for that money, whether it’s $4 million, $20 million, whatever it is. But the feeling around the league is that Atlanta has not been willing to budge on this. They haven’t shown a lot of interest in trading Cousins. It would take a hefty price tag for another team to wiggle that out.”
This isn't the first (and won't be the last until Rodgers signs) that we have heard of the Steelers being interested in Kirk Cousins. Its a testament to both the lack of options on the free agent market and trade block, and the Steelers' skepticism to go for anything but a proven product after the Kenny Pickett experiment.
Only, both Rodgers and Cousins may not be the same producers.
Cousins doesn't have the resume of Rodgers, but he does have the same Achilles injury that plagued his 2024 season as well, leading to his benching with the Atlanta Falcons.
Optimistically speaking, Cousins is five years the junior of Rodgers and will be a year away from a year away of the achilles tear, which is when players tend to return to form.
It is both ironic and concerning, however, that the Steelers top two veteran options at quarterback are two players who recently had Achilles tears and are coming off less than great years, with one being cut (Rodgers and New York Jets) and the other potentially being shopped via trade (Cousins and Atlanta Falcons).
But that's what happens when you trade a quarterback less than two years into his rookie deal and then don't draft his replacement in the two drafts after.
Maybe that will finally change in 2026.
