For a while this offseason, it looked like the Steelers might not bring Ben Roethlisberger back. Then they reached an agreement on a revised contract (with Roethlisberger taking a pay-cut) that would keep him in the fold for 2021, but it seemed the writing was on the wall that this would be his last go-round with Pittsburgh.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II is saying not so fast. Although Roethlisberger isn’t under contract for 2022, “it’s not written in stone that this is his last year,” Rooney told reporters at training camp, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. He didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of the prospect of multiple more years of Big Ben, however.
“We’re aware this could be Ben’s last year,” he said. “We hope it’s a great one. That’s as far as we can go with it right now. Obviously, if this is his last year, then next year we’ll be making decisions on a quarterback, and we’ll address it as the time comes up.”
Perhaps the Steelers aren’t ruling out Roethlisberger coming back simply because they don’t have many other options currently. They gave Mason Rudolph a mini-extension to make him the only passer under contract for 2022, and the former third-round pick has said he hopes to start in 2022. Rudolph hasn’t looked particularly promising in his nine career NFL starts, but he hasn’t been a complete disaster either.
Beyond Rudolph, the team also has Joshua Dobbs and former Washington first-round pick Dwayne Haskins currently on the roster. Pittsburgh, of course, started off 11-0 last year before completely falling apart down the stretch as Roethlisberger and the offense struggled.
Roethlisberger looked like his arm might not have much left at times last season, but to be fair he was coming off major elbow surgery. Big Ben turned 39 in March, and it’ll be very interesting to see how much he’s got left in the tank physically when the Steelers kickoff their season Week 1 against the Bills.
“Roethlisberger looked like his arm might not have much left at times last season”.
I think his pitching arm looks better than anything I’ve seen in a Pirates uniform.
Heard Haskins has looked good so far.
Having a first round QB bloom late and sign cheap while keeping most of their defense could open up an unexpected window of contention.
I’m very eager to see how Big Ben’s arm responds this year being 2 years removed from TJ. It typically takes the 2nd year before baseball players arms fully recover. I’m expecting he’ll have a stronger arm this year. Now his protection ans mobility – I’m less confident in those aspects.
The line is horrendous. I believe that line allowed/supported Ben to be Ben. I think Ben is going to look more like Richard Todd as he runs for his life.
A lot of blame was placed on Ben last year. He’s no young Ben but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he played another 2-3 years. Defense had many injuries, zero run game, zero offensive creativity (except when Ben called plays), worst o-line in the league, and still managed to win the division. We’ll see how it plays out. I’m proud to call Big Ben my qb. Always will be
Baaahhhaaahhhaa… Yes, PLEASE bring Ben back for at least the next 5 seasons
-the rest of the AFC North
Considering the fact that the Steelers were 4-2 in their division last year and won it, I think the rest of the AFC North would be okay seeing Roethlisberger walk.
How about we see the fat pud make it through 2021 before we start speculating about 2022
Big Ben’s arm looked bad because the passing game was bad. The passing game was bad because the protection was terrible, the run game was terrible, and the receivers’ separation was terrible. I don’t consider Roethlisberger’s arm strength to be anywhere near what it used to be when he was the best deep ball thrower in the league, but I also don’t think that we’ve seen where it actually stands right now.
The Steelers’ entire playbook last year was Ben reading the defense and making a call to pitch the ball out as quickly as he possibly could. There wasn’t much opportunity for deeper throws because the line couldn’t pass protect for longer than two seconds, and when they did, the receivers could not get separation. I am not saying that Roethlisberger is done, but I don’t think we saw where he actually stands physically because the playbook was so rushed last year.
The thing is, I don’t see that the biggest problems-the offensive line and the ability of receivers to break coverage-have significantly improved. The run game has, but again, the offensive line was a bigger issue there than the talent of the actual ball carriers. It might be two years before Pittsburgh adequately addresses those issues, and I do not see this year as Ben’s best chance for a last hurrah.
Maybe he can’t play anymore, maybe he can, but his team needs at least one more year to fix its issues elsewhere before looking at QB. Staying another year to give Pittsburgh stability at one position while it addresses the others on the shoestring budget that it’s been operating on would give Ben his best shot to give it a final hurrah while also buying the team time to reload at other spots. That is, of course, if Ben can prove that he’s still capable.
Another has been who hangs onto his career like he did with the young gal in the bathroom.
BIG Ben 4 eva
The Steelers have no one to replace him. Taking a flyer on that loser Haskins proves that.