The Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger have agreed to a three-year contract extension, according to Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette (on Twitter). The new pact will keep Big Ben in place through the 2021 season. 
Once finalized, the deal will pay well north of $30MM per year for 2020-21, placing him in the top-three highest paid quarterbacks for those two years, a source tells ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter). In total, he gets a $63MM base value on his two new years, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Prior to the new deal, 2019 was set to be the walk year for Big Ben. Now, he has a contract that should take him through the end of his career.
Whether Roethlisberger is a good teammate or not has been a hot topic of late, but his on-field production continues to be top-notch, as he set career-highs in completions (452), pass attempts (675), passing yards (5,129), and touchdowns (34) this past season.
Big Ben started all 16 games last year, the first time he had done that since the 2014 season. The Steelers had a down season as a team and didn’t make the playoffs, but Roethlisberger led the league in passing yards. On the flip side, he also led the league with 16 interceptions.
Advanced metrics lauded Roethlisberger’s work as well, as he finished fourth in Total QBR and eighth in adjusted net yards per attempt. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger ranked fifth in Football Outsiders‘ DYAR, which measures value over a replacement level player, and eighth in DVOA, meaning he was effective on a per-play basis. His status in the locker room, whatever it might be, was not a factor in contract talks.
The Steelers, of course, narrowly missed the playoffs in 2018 despite Big Ben’s impressive statistics, and the team is now without Antonio Brown. But Pittsburgh has never had a losing season with Roethlisberger at quarterback, and despite the trade of Brown, the club should once again compete for the AFC North crown.
Roethlisberger was set to carry a cap charge of $23.2MM this season. The extension should lower that figure and give the Steelers a little more breathing room heading into the draft and the later stages of free agency.
Great news!
Btw, Ben’s number of INTs led the league, but his INT percentage improved.
As for his leadership skills, more players came out in his defense than dissed him, yet we keep reading the same tired rhetoric.
He seems to throw a lot of dumb INTs in the worst situation, but a lot of those INT numbers are inflated because he’ll have 1 or 2 games with 3+ INTs. He’s been frustrating the last few years.
Unfortunately yes, that has been his issue. He’ll throw 3 INTs one game, then none the next 2 or 3. Always has been an issue. Still fun to watch though
Remember when he had no line protection..all the sacks…injuries..interceptions!He has been injured and has played through those injuries. Finally management woke up, got him an O-line of worth. He is the goose that laid the golden egg and they didn’t protect him. He is worth every penny. Look how Brady was protected!
So long as we have Ben we have a chance! This is great news!
Rapistbereger is a fool ask AB
“Bereger” wow you’re dumb
u r a feeble-minded idiot
They’re so lucky that they had Bell and Brown’s replacements already on the roster in Conner and Juju. Losing those guys on a team without a top defense would’ve absolutely ruined a lot of teams.
What happened that he went from maybe retiring 2 years ago to wanting to play for another 5+years? Lol
That’s what he said though. You’re literally quoting him. He said he’ll take it year to year but could see it being 3-5 years if the line holds up (which it has)
That was his way of getting Haley fired. He forced them to choose.
I think his retirement talk was the hatred of the offensive coordinator. It’s fitting the Steelers let him walk, and he couldn’t find a home in a bad Browns coaching staff last year. Big Ben might of had a valid point.
So…
Ben gets a bigger contract (per year) than Big Chest or Bell combined AND he’s not the one who has to move (to a higher tax state).
Pretty clear who won.
12-4 this year
I’m contemplating retirement… fast forward… I’m signing an extension. Great qb love the way he plays the game and seeing him shed linebackers but his antics I could do without. That being said he’s a bad mofo on the field
That retirement talk came right after a very frustrating playoff loss, and also when Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator. It was no secret that Haley and Ben did not see eye to eye. Ben has absolutely had a tendency towards melodrama and putting his foot in his mouth, but I give him a pass on the previous retirement talk.