Before dramatically overhauling their quarterback room this offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers initially gauged the possibility of signing Kirk Cousins in free agency.
Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the Steelers gave a “cursory look” at Cousins before his price got too high for them.
Pryor noted Kenny Pickett was still the “Plan A” for Pittsburgh after realizing the Cousins’ scenario wouldn’t work, but that was also before Russell Wilson was going to become available.
There were rumblings that the Steelers might attempt to pursue Cousins, but Tomlin confirmed they never looked into the possibility of signing him.
Pittsburgh really hasn’t gone all-in on the quarterback market since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. Kenny Pickett was a first-round draft pick in 2022, but he wasn’t a top choice because he came off the board at No. 20 overall.
After two disappointing seasons with Pickett as their primary starter, the Steelers opted to bring in multiple quarterbacks with starting experience on cheap contracts with the hope of improving their offense.
Pickett was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia Eagles on March 16.
Wilson signed a one-year deal for the veteran minimum, though he’s also being paid around $38 million from the Denver Broncos from the guaranteed money still owed on his contract with them after they released him.
Fields is entering the fourth season of his rookie contract with a $1.6 million base salary in 2024.
There is a reasonable argument that those deals are more beneficial to a team than the four-year, $180 million contract Cousins got from the Atlanta Falcons.
While it’s hard to argue that Cousins isn’t the best quarterback of the three, he’s going to turn 36 on Aug. 19 and suffered a torn Achilles in the Minnesota Vikings’ win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 8.
The commitments to Wilson and Fields are both for one year and very little money. This gives the Steelers flexibility to potentially pursue a better option next offseason if neither one works out.
But if neither Wilson nor Fields works out, that likely means the Steelers will be going another year without making a deep playoff run. Their last postseason victory was over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round on Jan. 15, 2017.
