The Pittsburgh Steelers have seen their quarterback options dwindle as they continue to wait for Aaron Rodgers, who could very well retire.

As things stand now, the Steelers appear to have two options if Rodgers doesn't sign. One of those is Mason Rudolph, who is already on the roster. However, Rudolph is not a starting-caliber quarterback.

The other option is Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is available via trade after getting benched last season. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler recently said that Pittsburgh could turn to a Cousins trade if all else fails with Rodgers.

“So Rodgers Plan A, Kirk Cousins could be a viable Plan B,” Fowler said on SportsCenter. “After making some calls today, I do believe he’s been on their radar. If something were to fall through with Rodgers, certainly they could reconvene, call Atlanta, and see if they could shake something out. But right now, Rodgers is their guy.”

While he was apparently a fan of making that move earlier in the offseason, Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger is no longer on board with it.

"I would've [liked trading for Cousins] earlier, but not now at this point," he said on the Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger podcast.

We also know that Roethlisberger isn't high on the Steelers' season if they roll with Rudolph as the starter, as he projected Pittsburgh to finish with a losing record in 2025 with Rudolph at the helm, and an 11-7 record if Rodgers is the starter.

There are several reasons why the Steelers could balk at a Cousins trade, with the biggest reason being the guaranteed money left on his deal.

Reports suggest the Falcons aren't keen on picking up a lot of that money to make a trade happen, which would leave the acquiring team taking on a large portion of the $37.5 million in guaranteed money left on Cousins' contract.

So, that means that not only would the Steelers have to give up draft capital, they'd be taking on a significant amount of money for a player who is coming off a bad season and looked like a shell of himself in 2024.

For the Steelers to do that, they'd have to be confident that Cousins is better than Rudolph and that his lackluster showing last year was a result of his coming back from a torn Achilles.

While we believe his confidence is misguided, head coach Mike Tomlin has said he is confident in Rudolph as the starter. We tend to believe Pittsburgh will indeed roll with the former third-round pick instead of trading for Cousins, barring the Falcons changing their stance about picking up a huge chunk of Cousins' deal.

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