It’s not the two-minute drill, but there is drama building in the quarterback market as the official league new year and NFL free agency begins.
The players in this show: Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and Kirk Cousins.
The teams in this show: the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and, maybe, the Minnesota Vikings. (FWIW, Brett Favre endorsed Rodgers playing for the Green Bay Packers’ heated rival, which sounds par for the course for Favre.)
Let’s start with Rodgers. He’s free of New York after two very Jets-like years in his otherwise Hall of Fame career. There was heavy anticipation that Rodgers and the Steelers would quickly agree to a deal, as they appear to be a perfect match largely out of desperation. That didn’t happen Wednesday.
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported that the Steelers have made a formal offer to Rodgers and they’re waiting for his response.
Apparently, the delay in the Aaron Rodgers discussion with the Steelers is not about money. The offer has been made. It’s about Rodgers taking his good ol’ time about making a decision.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) March 13, 2025
We also got to feed our Rodgers free-agent hunger with a photo from the Daily Mail, claiming to capture Rodgers walking on a beach. It’s fair to guess that it wasn’t in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New York or Minneapolis.
As for Wilson, he’s scheduled to visit the Browns on Thursday. He probably gets the hint that he’s not the Steelers’ first choice. That visit will be followed with a trip to New York to see the Giants on Friday. New York is also in the market for a QB, although it has the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
Lastly, it sounds like Cousins has a good shot at being dealt if the Steelers or Browns are desperate. Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported that the Atlanta Falcons are fine with keeping Cousins as a backup for the 2025 season. However, the club knows it has leverage, Cousins’ strong feelings about starting be damned.
Robinson wrote:
Right now, the Falcons are operating with two pieces of information. First, they know the Browns want to bring in another quarterback to balance out the position and Cousins would be the most familiar — having worked with head coach Kevin Stefanski — and cost-effective option if he were to be cut loose by Atlanta. Second, the Falcons know some on the Steelers’ coaching staff really would rather not have to turn back to Russell Wilson in 2025, and there’s a chance that if Rodgers were to choose the New York Giants or retire, Pittsburgh could view Cousins as an emergency option.
No, this doesn’t beat the on-field drama of a QB trying to lead his team to victory in the final minutes of a game. But we’ll take it this week.
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