STEELERS LEGEND SANTONIO HOLMES LEADS THE TERRIBLE TOWEL TWIRL, JAN. 4, 2025. (PHOTOS BY MARLON MARTIN)
Pretender: one that pretends, one who lays claim to something, specifically, a claimant to a throne who is held to have no just title, one who makes a false or hypocritical show.
My definition of a pretender: presenting a false front as well as manipulating and controlling circumstances with no morals or values attached.
As far as fair play is concerned, there are pathogens of misinformation and dishonesty as well as false values that have entered and infected the bloodstream of the sports world. Currently, there is no known vaccine or effective treatment available to prevent or treat the condition known as: “just win baby”—better known as, “just get paid baby.” In 2024, Atlanta Falcons starting QB Kirk Cousins signed a 4-year, $180 million contract in light of his age (36) and having just experienced an Achilles injury during the 2023 season. Cousins was recently demoted.
According to spotrac.com, Cousins’ replacement as the starter for the Falcons, rookie QB Michael Penix Jr., “signed a 4-year, $22.8 million contract with the Falcons, including $13.4 million in a signing bonus. It’s an average annual salary of $5,720,659. In 2024, Penix Jr. will earn a base salary of $795,000 and a signing bonus of $13,461,916. Talk about “voodoo” economics at its best! A young, upcoming rookie signed for approximately $13,461,916, while in 2024, a grizzled, more-than-likely-finished QB Kirk Cousins was due to rake in $12,500,000 and reportedly received more than a $50,000,000 signing bonus. That is a perverted salary imbalance, don’t you think? Oh, I forgot, Michael Penix signed a “rookie contract.”
On September 16, 2024, Dan Treacy posted an article on sportingnews.com titled: “Kirk Cousins’ career earnings: Here’s how much money Falcons QB has made on NFL contracts.” Treacy posted the following: “Kirk Cousins has mastered the art of making money in the NFL. While he didn’t make too much on his rookie contract after Washington made him a fourth-round pick in 2012, Cousins bet on himself in 2016 and played under the franchise tag for two seasons with the franchise. All he did from that point was sign three fully guaranteed contracts with the Vikings. Cousins has cashed in again during free agency in 2024, inking a four-year, $180 million deal with the Falcons, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network. Cousins is guaranteed $100 million in his new deal. By and large, Cousins’ production has matched the salary. While playoff success still eludes the veteran quarterback, he’s continued to produce in Minnesota and entered the 2024 season top-25 all-time in both passing yards and touchdowns. It will come as no surprise that Cousins is among the highest-earning players in NFL history.”
CINCINNATI’S JOE BURROW DID EVERYTHING HE COULD TO GET THE BENGALS TO THE PLAYOFFS. IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE.
to his deal this past offseason, there was a significant gap between the 35-year-old and the top of the list. That’s not the case any longer. Cousins made $231.6 million from NFL contracts through 2023, the fourth-highest mark in NFL history. The only players with more career earnings to that point were Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford and Russell Wilson.
With his Falcons deal guaranteeing $100 million, Cousins now sits second on that list, just behind Rodgers. Of the top four players on the list, Cousins is the only one without a Super Bowl ring.
Wow, wow, wow! It is sleazy, weezy and peezy to toot a horn about the so-called stellar production of Kirk Cousins because when it comes to victories of substance, those triumphs are far and few between. The great pretenders. They laugh and smirk when the Steelers got Russell Wilson for $2.5 million but the Atlanta Falcons paid Kirk Cousins more than $180 million. You tell me that’s not a travesty and injustice. In 2024, Kirk Cousins was paid more than $177 million more than the Steelers paid both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields combined in 2024. The average pay for an NFL QB is $20 million per season. As far as ability is concerned, it may not be too much of a stretch to surmise at this point in his career that Kirk Cousins is below average as an NFL QB. Recently bolavip.com posted this Ben Roethlisberger quote regarding the Steelers as far as the Steelers keeping both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the QB Room: “I would do everything I could to sign him and also try to keep Justin Fields. That would be my wish list. I would try to keep them both. I would keep Russ at the position and let Fields continue to learn.”
That quote came from Roethlisberger on his podcast.
THE STEELERS’ NAJEE HARRIS LEAPS OVER SOME BENGALS DEFENDERS IN THE JAN. 4, 2025, CONTEST…
Is this the same in September of 2024, when Roethlisberger told cbssports.com, “If Russ is healthy, I’m sticking with Justin.”
Where is this bipolar analysis of Ben Roethlisberger coming from?
Somebody needs prayer because in the Holy Bible the Book of James verse 8, we are reminded that: “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.“ This is the case, so how can we trust anyone whose opinion may change not only from day to day, but from minute to minute?
Remember the naysayers demanding that Steelers wide receiver George Pickens be benched because of unruly behavior? If the Steelers coaches had heeded their advice, the Men of Steel would have been at home, waiting for the pizza and hot wings to arrive as opposed to waiting to receive the kickoff at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday night, Jan. 11.
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is supposedly being interviewed for a head coaching spot in the NFL. Hopefully, he gets the gig because it will be a loss for the new team and a gain for the Steelers.
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