Impact of Aaron Rodgers on Steelers, Anthony Richardson dealing with shoulder injury & MORE

Ryan Wilson joins CBS Sports HQ to discuss the latest news around the NFL.

[00:00:00] Breaking down impact of Aaron Rodgers on Steelers
[00:03:27] Kirk Cousins enters offseason as Falcons’ backup QB
[00:05:01] Anthony Richardson shoulder problem
[00:06:43] Terry McLaurin still awaiting new contract

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#nfl #nflnews

upcoming season, and for yet more on Aaron Rodgers to the Steelers, we say hello to CBS sports NFL writer Ryan Wilson. Ryan, let’s talk about impact with Rodgers to the Steelers because the oddsmakers didn’t move their odds in the division or in the league at all in the in the news that Rodgers is going to Pittsburgh. How much do you think he raises the ceiling for the Steelers. Good to see you Ross. Good to talk to you here buddy. One of the things that you sort of talked yourself into is a Steelers fan. And that would include myself and of course our buddy Brian McFadden is that the longer you wait, the more important it’s going to be once it arrives. And that’s how you feel about Aaron Rodgers. Will he recapture that form that’s going to make him a first ballot Hall of Famer, or will he look like the guy who in New York didn’t really do a whole bunch and look closer to a 41 year old than he did to a 25 year old? Here’s a fun fact not if you’re a Steelers fan, but I went back and checked over the last half of the 2024 season when we’ve all convinced ourselves that Aaron Rodgers played a little better. Coming off that Achilles from the year before, his numbers, Russ are nearly identical to the second half of the season performance for Russell Wilson, the guy he is currently replacing and the guy who is now the starter. As we sit here for the New York Giants. So it may look a lot like last season, and that this team will win more games than it loses, but just barely and get to the playoffs and promptly make an exit. I would imagine stage right. And then the conversation will return to once again, who their quarterback is going to be 12 months from now. So I think there’s some there’s some energy built around the fact that you perhaps have a chance to get Aaron Rodgers, and maybe he can capture lightning in a bottle like Tom Brady did when he went to Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl. But those odds feel a lot longer than the ones that Vegas has currently burdened Steelers fans with. Because I think the reality is this team is going to look a little bit like the team last year with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields that won more games than they lost by just a handful. You know what? I’ve been wanting to ask Bmac this, I’m going to ask you this question. What is the best case scenario obviously, is Rodgers leading the Steelers to a Super Bowl. Right. But short of that, if he plays great it’s a one year deal. Are we having another conversation? Should they bring him back. Should what should they do with quarterback like the Steelers are in a one year situation here. Right. And it’s just going to we’re going to be having these conversations again in a year. I don’t think so. Just me speculating here. But I would imagine Aaron Rodgers will be 42 in December. I can’t envision a situation. Let’s even say they get to the AFC Championship game. Best case scenario. And Aaron plays out of his mind and they lose that game to the Ravens or to the bills or to the Chiefs or whomever. I just think that Aaron Rodgers would probably want to sail off into the sunset, because remember, the Steelers weren’t his first choice. They weren’t his second choice. They were his third and perhaps three choice. That brings us to the point where he is now member of that team. So I don’t know if he’s pining to stay in Pittsburgh even if things go well. And I think the Steelers have to understand. And by the way, since Big Ben retired Russ, they’ve had six starting quarterbacks about to have seven. I think they would like some stability in that position. And unless you are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in that one off year with Tom Brady, it is hard to win, let alone win a Super Bowl unless you have a young franchise quarterback who is continuing to grow in that role. And that’s what the Steelers need to find. They drafted Will Howard in the sixth round. That means he’s a developmental guy because he’s a sixth round pick. Maybe he turns into that guy, but I would not be shocked if a year from now we’re having conversations about drafting someone in this quarterback class, which should be better than the one we just had. But again, we have to wait 11 months to figure that out. Together. Seven quarterbacks since their last franchise quarterback, the Cleveland Browns, would like a word with you about that one. Let’s talk about another because their list is a lot longer. That’s the whole point of that. Look Kirk Cousins he’s still on the Falcons. He’s owed a ton of money. And the Falcons he’s not their starter now. And I’m just curious as to what the heck is going on with Kirk Cousins. Yea. And the game of musical chairs for starting quarterbacks is currently there is no more available chairs now that Aaron Rodgers is in Pittsburgh. And they’re never built to be any momentum at least publicly for Kirk Cousins going to Pittsburgh, even though he might be less of a headache in quotation marks than Aaron Rodgers might be locker room wise or whatever conversation, we want to take that. But now it seems like unless you wait until training camp and that’s probably the direction the Falcons will go. And, you know, knock on wood, no one gets hurt. But if there’s an injury at the quarterback position on another team, that’s when Kirk Cousins might get a call. There could be a very real situation where he’s just the backup in Atlanta, and he will be a great teammate. Our buddy Rick Spielman has made it clear that when Kirk was in Minnesota, there was not a better person in that building. So I think he will, you know, bide his time and understand that this is Michael Penix Jr’s job and be a good teammate. But I would imagine he wants to play. And we’re having the conversation about Aaron Rodgers being a better quarterback, 18 months removed from an Achilles, you would imagine that would hold for Kirk Cousins as well. So should someone happen to get injured on another team as a starting quarterback, I would imagine Kirk Cousins would be among the first calls and then perhaps he’ll have that opportunity to play. But as we sit here, I don’t know where he would go or who would pay him or what. The breakdown of the payments will be from the two teams, including the Falcons. Should Kirk Cousins find himself somewhere other than Atlanta on a roster? Yeah, I wonder if Indianapolis Colts fans, if you posed the question to him, who would you like to have his starting quarterback Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones or maybe Kirk Cousins now Kirk Cousins obviously not in that situation. In the conversation right now Richardson shoulders giving him problems Daniel Jones probably the best bet to be the opening day starter for the Colts this year. It is crazy to me, Russ, that Anthony Richardson looks and performs the way he does physically, and he has the durability of you and I combined at our advanced age. I don’t get it. It does not make sense to me. It feels like he should be able to run through brick walls, rebuild the brick wall and run through it again. But he has struggled with the shoulder injury. He struggled with other lower body injuries, both in college and now in the pros. So yeah, it does feel like Daniel Jones’s job. They drafted Riley Leonard, the quarterback, out of Notre Dame on Day three. He’s not ready to start, but he’s a he has the athleticism that you like in these young quarterbacks we see coming out of college. He’s not the athlete of Anthony Richardson but he is incredibly durable. So the question is top five pick has yet to find his way in the NFL. Got benched last year because he wasn’t taking the job as seriously as he needed to. And now in a what feels like a make or break year, you might lose out to Daniel Jones because of an injury and a critical injury to your to your throwing shoulder. So that’s something that you hope that he can get healthy. There’s nothing you can do other than wait. We have this conversation about CJ Stroud and the soreness he’s experiencing, but we’ve seen what he can do when he’s lights out. We have yet to see that from AR five. So it’s precarious and it could be a situation. Russ the next April the Colts are looking for another franchise quarterback in the draft. We talk about quarterbacks all the time. The commanders finally got their quarterback. They’re a team that everybody is high on. Because of that they went out and got Deebo Samuel. But their top receiver Terry McLaurin is holding out. How scary is it. And that’s a pun there for Terry to be holding out for the commanders. How important is he to the team and what is the deal. What are the what are the odds of him holding out into training camp or into the season? Yeah, this is another version of Scary Terry that you don’t want if you’re the Commanders or Jayden Daniels. And he had a fantastic season last year because he finally had a quarterback to get him the ball and he was lights out. Had 117 targets, scored 13 touchdowns, which is second in the NFL. And he wants to get paid. He’s in the final year of a three year deal that pays him around $23 million per year in 2025, which ranked 16th. If you’re trying to tell me that he’s the middle of the pack in terms of wide receivers in the NFL, I would kindly disagree with you. He’s going to get some top ten money. And right now 40 million is the ceiling. And I think he probably is looking in the 31 to $32 million range, which would put him inside the top ten and certainly worth every penny of that. So we’ll see if the commanders get there. I would imagine they would want to because you mentioned Deebo Samuel. He struggles with health. But after that there are some question marks in terms of experience and explosiveness. At the at the wide receiver position. They drafted Luke McCaffrey last year. He was pretty good as a rookie, but he can’t step in and be a number two right away. Should Scary Terry decide to hold out if that’s in his plans, I think they’ll end up paying him and get that offense to continue to grow around Jayden Daniels, because certainly there’s a symbiotic relationship between Jayden and Terry, and you’d like to see that continue because again, Debo struggles to stay healthy. And Debo, for all the things he does well, he is not the best route runner on planet Earth. That’s where Scary Terry comes in and gives you that one two punch. And the reason you went out and acquired Debo with the understanding that Terry would be out there doing the things he’s done that made him so successful throughout his career. All right, this coming week, we’re going to get to see Aaron Rodgers likely in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform. And Minicamps are going to go on. And next thing you know it’ll be training camp. It’s good work if you can get it. CBS sports NFL writer Ryan Wilson Brian always great chopping it up with you, buddy. CBS your home to the NFL and CBS sports HQ. We’ve got your news, yourighlights, your reaction, your analysis. It’s all free. It’s