Report: Kirk Cousins Won’t Waive No-Trade Clause

Despite speculation that the Pittsburgh Steelers might be interested in trading for Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, it appears that the veteran signal-caller will remain in Minneapolis thanks to his no-trade clause.

According to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN, Cousins will not waive the no-trade clause in his contract in order to facilitate a trade

“I’m just very focused on the Bears and going 1-0 this week,” Cousins told reporters in Minneapolis last week. “Anything else is just not worth my time or energy or attention.”

The Steelers were linked to Cousins by former NFL general manager Matt Lombardi, who suggested that Omar Khan should look into the veteran, with the team’s defense playing at a high level but the offense scuffling. 

“If you put Kirk Cousins on Pittsburgh’s team right now, that might improve them,” Lombardi said. “It might give them a long-term answer. Would they sign him? Well, they have a quarterback on a rookie deal. I’m sure they could. Is it Pittsburgh’s style? I don’t think so, but it depends on where they think they are with Kenny Pickett. 

“They’re going to win enough games to where they won’t get a top quarterback. If you’re Omar Khan and you know you’re not going to get a top-ten quarterback, so do you keep going with Pickett and hope he gets better? Or for the next two years, let me bring in Cousins, and we’ll see if Pickett grows up. I don’t know if I’d argue with that logic.”

It seems unlikely that the Steelers will pull the plug on Pickett so quickly, at any rate. But it seems they certainly will not have Cousins as an option, at least through the end of this season.

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