NFL insider reveals how Aaron Rodgers signing with Steelers impacts Kirk Cousins' future, potential trade

Aaron Rodgers signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers really affected Kirk Cousins and his potential destination in 2025. As of now, Cousins is staying with the Atlanta Falcons as a high-priced backup.

The Steelers were seemingly an option if Rodgers didn’t sign or ended up retiring. But as it was teased for months now, Rodgers will sign and be at mandatory minicamp next week.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler broke down what could be next for Cousins now that Pittsburgh is out of the equation. Spoiler alert, it’s like a barren wasteland out there.

“This hurts. I mean, there’s no other way around it,” Fowler said on SportsCenter. “There’s not a quarterback job (available) or a path for Cousins to go somewhere else and start right now. So there was probably a hope from his camp that, like, hey, if something were to happen to Rodgers, if he decided to retire, maybe the Steelers would make some sort of move, or at least call Atlanta to see what it would cost. So right now, there’s not a lot of movement, and you got the New Orleans Saints out there … 

“They’re in division, so Atlanta is probably not going to want to do that. So there are two paths for the Falcons and Cousins here. Either ride this out, you pay him that money, that $27.5 million in guaranteed salary this year, or you wait until maybe there’s an injury in training camp, maybe somebody gets hurt that opens an avenue for Cousins for a potential deal.” 

Cousins went 7-7 as a starter for the Falcons last season coming off an Achilles injury. He threw for 3,508 yards, 18 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and a 66.9% completion percentage.

At this point, this is a money issue considering the Falcons are paying Cousins a lot to backup second-year man Michael Penix Jr. There isn’t another franchise willing to take on enough of Cousins’ money.

“But right now, like this, has been really slow, to the point where maybe in March, if there was a team that was willing to make some sort of movement, the Cleveland Browns, before they added a gazillion quarterbacks to their quarterback room, that would have made a lot of sense,” Fowler said. “As one source told me, If the Falcons were willing to take like, seven or 8 million on an offset deal, then this would have got done, probably. But Atlanta wants somebody to cover a large portion of that contract. That’s been the issue.”