As optional team workouts have kicked off for the Pittsburgh Steelers, chatter about their quarterback situation is starting to ramp up once again.

It’s still unclear whether when, or even if, Aaron Rodgers will sign with the Steelers. Mason Rudolph, the free agent who came back to the Steelers after a year in Tennessee, is currently taking reps as the assumed QB1. Will Howard, the team’s sixth round pick in last month’s draft, is also present and getting work in.

But while Rudolph is an established veteran (and mustache wearer) now, and there is palpable excitement for Howard — far more than your average late round pick — Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation is still untenable.

As the offseason continues, there’s a growing link between the Steelers and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins. Rodgers is still nowhere to be seen, and Cousins is missing OTAs down in Atlanta.

Now let be start off by saying this: I’m not convinced that the Steelers are seriously pursuing Cousins, not yet at least. If anything, it’s probably a last ditch effort to try and put some pressure on Rodgers, because come on, Aaron, it’s about to be June.

But crazier things have happened. Raise your hand if you would have believed me if I told you two years ago that Justin Fields from Chicago and Russell Wilson from Denver would quarterback the team in 2024.

Put your hand down, you’re lying.

In that light, though, I wanted to at least get my thoughts down on a potential arrival of Cousins to Pittsburgh.

A little over a year ago, the outlook for Cousins was very different. His agent had helped him secure a four-year, $100 million deal with the Falcons after leaving Minnesota. It was certainly a risk for Atlanta; Cousins was coming off an Achillies injury that cut his 2023 season short, and the veteran would be trying to make a comeback at 36 years old with the Falcons.

The contract became even more peculiar when the Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr with the eighth overall pick. If the Cousins deal worked out perfectly, Penix wouldn’t get a legitimate NFL chance until 2028. If Penix blossomed and/or Cousins faltered, the Falcons now had quite the expensive backup.

Cousins’ brief run the south was a rollercoaster. In Week 2, he led the Falcons to an upset win over the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. In Week 5, he passed for over 500 yards and set a new franchise record in an overtime thriller over Tampa Bay.

But he cratered as the season went on. In his final five games of the season, Cousins failed to record a touchdown in four of them and was picked off nine times. That included a four-interception blowout in Week 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Head coach Raheem Morris benched Cousins for the final three weeks and went with Penix.

Penix is now poised to be the future in Atlanta and take over the starting job full-time in 2025. That’s the reason why Cousins is available now.

He isn’t the high-profile free agent he was a year ago. He’s an aging quarterback who was benched for performance reasons in Atlanta last year.

There’s simply no way the Steelers bringing in Cousins would make any sense. He’s everything that head coach Mike Tomlin hates; Cousins was tied for the league-lead in interceptions last year, with 16. He was also fifth in the league in interception percentage, at 3.5%.

Cousins also struggled to hold onto the ball. In 14 starts he fumbled the ball a league-leading 13 times.

We can debate whether Tomlin needs to be more accepting of more bold quarterback play, as in allowing a quarterback to try and take over a game at the risk of turning the ball over. But the fact of the matter is that Tomlin’s Steelers, especially since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, have tried to protect the ball at all costs.

Part of the reason Tomlin went from Fields to Wilson was the latter’s supposed ability to better take care of the ball. Fields never hesitated to run the ball himself and suffered some fumbles that made Tomlin wary. He wanted someone who wouldn’t put the game in danger.

Cousins is the exact opposite of that.

Could coaching and particular game planning cut that number down? Probably a little bit, but interceptions have always been a problem for him. Since becoming a full-time starter 2015, Cousins has recorded ten or more interceptions seven times.

Plus, and maybe more obviously, Cousins is going to be 37 next season. He is what he is at this point in his career.

Tomlin couldn’t “fix” him, and even if he could improve the quarterback’s work, Cousins would just be a stopgap, the same as Rodgers. The trade price, given Cousins’ current situation and his ridiculous contract, wouldn’t be high. But what are you really getting out of Cousins? One, maybe two alright years?

If any other quarterback the Steelers traded for are only going to serve as a bridge to the next quarterback the Steelers draft (likely in 2026), why not just stick with what you have?

Rudolph is a fine bridge quarterback. He’s seven years younger than Cousins, but still has plenty of NFL experience now and knows how to handle the Steelers. With the right offensive scheming, he can be a very competent quarterback in Pittsburgh in 2025.

The Steelers have embarrassed themselves long enough with this Rodgers situation, but at this point, they might as well stick it out and see if he eventually does put pen to paper. They haven’t provided themselves with enough of an alternative to tell the 41-year-old to screw off.

Bringing in Cousins doesn’t change that. All he does is stir the hodgepodge that the Steelers currently have.