New QB Rises as Favorite to Be Steelers Starter in 2025
It seems like every day a new quarterback is linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford have been mentioned often, but a new quarterback has now emerged as a favorite to land in Pittsburgh.
Bookies.com has Kirk Cousins with the best odds at +500 to be the Steelers starting quarterback in 2025. Rodgers and Stafford are tied with the second-best odds at +550.
“Cousins lost his job as the starting QB with the Atlanta Falcons after throwing too many interceptions last year in his first season with the team. The Falcons are likely to release Cousins this offseason, making him a free agent once again. Even though Cousins had a down year, he is still a highly respected quarterback in the NFL, and there is a good chance the Steelers would be interested in giving him the starting quarterback job if he does get cut,” Adam Martin of Bookies.com wrote.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to land veteran quarterback Russell Wilson for the veteran minimum ($1.2 million) last offseason, thanks to the Denver Broncos paying the majority of his contract. NFL insider Adam Schefter believes that could happen again this offseason.
Schefter sees a similar fate for the Atlanta Falcons and veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who was benched for rookie Michael Penix Jr. late in the 2024 season.
“This is a situation that looks an awful lot like what Denver and Russell Wilson went through last offseason before Denver decided ultimately to move on from him, when it said it wouldn’t necessarily do that,” ESPN’s Schefter said on “NFL Live.” “They released him, he wound up signing a one-year deal with a low salary in Pittsburgh, and that’s how I think people across the league believe this situation will unfold with the Falcons releasing Cousins right around the start of the new league year.”
Steelers president Art Rooney II already said it would be his preference to bring back either Wilson or fellow quarterback Justin Fields in 2025.
“I think they’re both capable quarterbacks and my preference would be to sign one of them,” Rooney said. “So that’ll be the priority, and I think that will give us the best opportunity to move forward.”
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