3 realistic veteran replacements for Ben Roethlisberger, including Derek Carr

Derek Carr is in his early 30s and just entering his football-playing prime

Even though Derek Carr may be totally committed to never playing for another professional team, this is the NFL and the Las Vegas Raiders may have other ideas. During his near-decade run quarterbacking the Silver and Black, Carr has been a stabilizing force in an otherwise chaotic organization. Despite having an interim head coach, the Raiders are still alive for the AFC playoffs.

Of the trio of veteran quarterbacks Sando mentioned, Carr is the youngest. He is still in his early 30s and is playing the best ball of his career. Carr may not have the strongest of arms, but he can really spin it. As for joining the NFL’s Black and Blue Division, it’s not like the AFC West has been a cakewalk either. Carr would be ready to compete right away if he was the Steelers’ quarterback.

The good news with trading for him is Carr can become a long-term solution for Pittsburgh. He is a free agent after next season and probably has one more big deal left in the bank. If Carr were traded to the Steelers, he could play six-to-eight years with the AFC North franchise before calling it a career. The guy is immensely talented, but has had to overcome organizational dysfunction.

Even if the new head coach is not keen on Carr long-term, the Raiders are not in a position to draft a franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft, so they would have to embrace cratering to get one in 2023 otherwise.

Kirk Cousins has starred playing quarterback in a northern climate twice already

If the Steelers are serious about replacing Roethlisberger with a veteran quarterback by way of a trade, Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings has to be their guy. Though a little bit older than Carr, Cousins is not as old as Ryan. Since winning the job in Washington half a decade ago, Cousins has been a top-12 passer in this league more often than not. He wins games win no one is watching.

Even though he plays in a dome and does not have a bazooka for a right arm, he has won plenty of games playing in northern climates, whether that has been in recent years in Minnesota and collegiately at Michigan State. Cousins may need a running game to be most effective, but the Steelers just drafted a stud out of Alabama in Najee Harris. He thrives running the play-action.

As with Carr, Cousins enters free agency after next season. While Minnesota has not fired head coach Mike Zimmer, that is more likely than not to happen if the Vikings fail to reach the playoffs. If they do stumble, then Minnesota may be in the market to draft someone like Pickett or Corral near the top 10. With two division rivals rebuilding, the Vikings could conceivably make it three.

Cousins is the right type of quarterback playing for the right team that is trending down to make a deal with the Steelers work as a means to offset losing Roethlisberger to retirement this offseason.