Ben Roethlisberger is no sure thing with Steelers in 2021
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ brass spoke to the media on Wednesday, and it sounds like Ben Roethlisberger might be leaving town.
Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Few tandems have been together in the NFL for longer.
Currently, the duo is the longest-tenured between player and team. It could be coming to an end fairly soon.
On Wednesday afternoon, general manager Kevin Colbert met with the local media to discuss the team’s proverbial state of the union. Most notably, Colbert talked about his two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback. The tone was one of uncertainty as we approach free agency in a month. Per NFL.com:
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“Ben Roethlisberger did a lot of really good things last year and we anticipate that he could still do some good things moving forward,” Colbert said. “Hopefully, there is a way we could try and figure out and do what’s best for the organization and do what’s best for Ben. And hopefully, he will be able to do that and feel the same way we do.
“But there’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Pittsburgh is in on of the league’s toughest spots. With COVID causing the salary cap to potentially fall from $198 million to around $180 million, the Steelers are more than $30 million above the threshold. This, despite having a litany of big-name free agents hitting the market including left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, cornerbacks Cam Sutton and Mike Hilton, edge rusher Bud Dupree, running back James Conner and more.
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Roethlisberger, 39, has a whopping $41.25 million cap hit. The next-largest on the team? Veteran cornerback Joe Haden at $15.575 million. Roethlisberger has stated his willingness to bring that number down, but would he take an outright pay cut or want the money spread into the future? This is likely the question for Colbert and the Steelers.
Pittsburgh’s next question is figuring out what the other options are at quarterback. Can the Steelers find a first-round talent in someone such as Alabama’s Mac Jones, or do they believe in Mason Rudolph? If either of those avenues are real, perhaps it’s wise to move on from Roethlisberger, painful as that would be considering all he’s done for the franchise.
With a critical offseason looming, the Steelers must decide what path to take with Roethlisberger.
