During a Saturday morning appearance on “SportsCenter,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler repeated previous reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers could pursue Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins if free agent Aaron Rodgers chooses not to play for the Steelers later this year.
During the latest edition of his “Overreaction Monday” podcast, league insider and NFL Network personality Rich Eisen shared a harsh truth for the Steelers about viewing Cousins as a possible backup plan ahead of the summer.
“If you feel [Rodgers is] just going to leave you at the altar, well, what that does is it puts you over a barrel in a negotiation to get somebody like Kirk Cousins,” Eisen said, per Jeremy Pike of Steelers Depot. “…The minute you lift the phone and call Terry Fontenot and ask, ‘What about Kirk Cousins,’ he knows you’re concerned about Rodgers not showing up. So, you’re over a barrel already.”
Fontenot, the general manager of the Falcons, reportedly wants a team “to pay a significant portion” of the remaining guaranteed money attached to the four-year, $180M contract Cousins received from Atlanta in March 2024. While Cousins lost the Atlanta starting job to 2024 first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. this past December, Fontenot has insisted he will hold onto the 36-year-old unless a club matches the Falcons’ asking price for the veteran.
Meanwhile, some within the Steelers want outsiders to believe the club would be “fine” if it had to start longtime backup Mason Rudolph in September. Perhaps such leaks are Pittsburgh’s way of telling Fontenot and Co. that they may need to lower their expectations regarding a Cousins trade if they want to get anything for him from the Steelers if Rodgers rejects the AFC North franchise.
Also on Monday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggested that Rodgers won’t sign a deal by the time the Steelers begin the first of six organized team activity practices set to occur, which are Tuesday through June 5. It’s unclear if Steelers general manager Omar Khan would call Fontenot about Cousins if Rodgers remained unsigned through the completion of Pittsburgh’s mandatory minicamp, which is scheduled to run from June 10 through June 12.
It’s also possible that Fontenot may eventually want to get Cousins out of the building to ensure a quarterback controversy won’t arise if Penix plays poorly early in the upcoming campaign. That said, it’s difficult to imagine a team other than the Steelers would give up anything of value for Cousins unless a different starter suffers a significant injury between now and the in-season trade deadline.
