So the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't draft a quarterback until the sixth round? No big deal. They've got Aaron Rodgers coming to town, right? Not so fast.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers passed on Shedeur Sanders three times in the 2025 NFL Draft, many assumed it was because they secretly had an agreement in the works with Rodgers. But that might not be the case. The Rogers news has gone quiet since before the draft, and this saga still doesn't have an end in sight.
On Monday, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport joined The Pat McAfee Show to discuss some of the biggest storylines around the league following the draft. In addition to being baffled by the Shedeur's slide to the fifth round before landing with the Cleveland Browns, Rapoport also talked about Pittsburgh's potential backup plan if their Rodgers plans fall through.
The man who could be called upon to save their season? Kirk Cousins. And it sounds like the Pittsburgh Steelers might be his only potential suitor.
"To the Kirk Cousins thing, I was kind of keeping track of and trying to figure out if he leaves Atlanta, where might he go?" Rapoport explained. "If you're good friend, Aaron Rodgers, does not go to Pittsburgh, that feels like a possibility. But it feels to me like the other possibilities kind of don't exist."
Kirk Cousins is a pitiful backup plan to Aaron Rodgers for the Pittsburgh Steelers
This obviously isn't the Steelers' first choice. By not giving Aaron Rodgers a hard deadline, Mike Tomlin and the front office made it clear that they are holding out hope for the 41-year-old to come to his senses and change, and make up his mind. If this doesn't happen, Rapoport believes Kirk Cousins will be the backup plan.
But this is a disaster waiting to happen.
There's a reason Cousins got benched in the second half of the 2024 season after being handed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. With $90 million in guarantees, you don't give up on a player so lightly, even if you have a first-round rookie quarterback waiting in the wings.
If you put on Cousins' film from last season, you'll instantly understand why the Falcons will make him available for trade. The aging veteran had zero velocity to his ball last year, and his arm looked completely shot. Some argue that, with another year removed from the Achilles injury, he could get some of this juice back, but Cousins didn't have a big arm to begin with.
While we don't know if the Steelers feel this way about Cousins, it wouldn't be hard to believe. Tomlin and Omar Khan are going to want to get someone in the building who could be an improvement over Mason Rudolph, as it will be an awful look for the team to simply roll with their third-string quarterback from the 2023 season.
Unfortunately, Cousins isn't guaranteed to be an improvement over Rudolph at this stage of his career. Meanwhile, expectations are low for sixth-round pick Will Howard, and the Ohio State product is unlikely to throw his name in the mix as an option for the 2025 season.
Cousins is still under contract with the Atlanta Falcons and would have to be had in a trade. Cousins has a fully guaranteed salary of $27.5 million for the 2025 season, per Over the Cap, but Atlanta may be willing to eat some of this to make a trade possible.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers really resort to Kirk Cousins as the backup plan, their 2025 season is already screwed.