Ranking the 5 dumbest solutions to the Pittsburgh Steelers QB problem

Until the Pittsburgh Steelers improve their quarterback situation, they are going to struggle coming out on top in one of the best divisions in football. The AFC North has long been the NFL's black and blue division, but the Steelers use to win it with great regularity because of who they had starting under center for them. With Ben Roethlisberger firmly in retirement, this has become a major issue.

The Steelers' deficiencies at quarterback have only been exacerbated by the fact that Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and now Deshaun Watson are in the division. While the former is injury-prone, and the latter has had a whole mess of legal issues, Jackson is coming off his second league MVP. When healthy, Burrow and Watson can play at top-eight levels in the league. Burrow can even be top-five.

Overall, the Steelers are still have one of the highest floors of any team in the league. They are going to win at least nine games every season for as long as Mike Tomlin is their head coach. However, the ceiling for this team is not much higher than that. The Steelers will need to catch a few lucky breaks to even be a 12-5 team, much less an 11-6 one. Again, it is why they must get better at quarterback.

To date, here are five of the worst possible solutions I have seen to fixing the Steelers' big problem.

5. Signing Kirk Cousins in free agency with Kenny Pickett backing him up

Admittedly, I don't hate this potential solution. However, I think if Kirk Cousins were to come to Pittsburgh in free agency, it would just be enabling Kenny Pickett in the long run. It would be breeding false hope into the thought that with the right mentorship under Cousins, he can be a viable quarterback in this league. The problem is that Cousins is one of the best quarterbacks in the league.

He may not have been a world beater coming out of Michigan State, but he was always the better pro prospect over Robert Griffin III in Washington. Cousins demonstrated great mental toughness to thrive in Washington anyway before really coming into his own in Minnesota. Truth be told, he is a much better and precise passer over Pickett, who struggles to make the simplest throws downfield.

Overall, I think Cousins would have success playing in Pittsburgh right away. He would provide some level of good-spirited nature to a locker room that has gotten increasingly chaotic by the season. Signing Cousins would probably elevate the Steelers' ceiling to around 13-4. Heck, they might even get to an AFC Championship Game or two. The problem is he does not cover up that Pickett stinks.

The only way I would be on board with signing Cousins is if Pickett were either cut or traded away.