After a promising Week 1 victory over the Bills in Orchard Park, the Steelers have lost two in a row. And the struggles that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went through in the second half of last year have persisted into the 2021 campaign, leading some to wonder if Pittsburgh will bench its franchise icon.

According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, head coach Mike Tomlin is not considering a QB change — yet. La Canfora adds that the decision to make or not make such a move lies solely with Tomlin, who will not face any pressure from ownership in that regard. But Tomlin could be feeling pressure from other members of the organization, many of whom reportedly believe that a change is essential.

The Steelers started the 2020 season 11-0, and while that always felt like a bit of a mirage, Roethlisberger’s performance was at least good enough to support the club’s suffocating defense. The six-time Pro Bowler posted QB ratings of at least 98.7 in eight of his first nine games, but things went south after that. Over his final seven games, including a disastrous wildcard loss to the Browns, Roethlisberger’s rating eclipsed 100.0 only once, and his inability to push the ball down the field was a big reason for that.

As La Canfora observes, Roethlisberger is barely averaging six yards per pass attempt in his last eight contests. Plus, his lack of mobility is not only making it difficult for new OC Matt Canada to run the type of offense he wants, it is also exposing the holes of a suspect O-line and making life more difficult for the running game.

Backup Mason Rudolph has not exactly lit the world on fire during his nine professional starts, but he might at least be a better fit in Canada’s scheme. So while Roethlisberger’s job is safe for now, the 39-year-old may need to show a significant improvement to avoid being benched during Pittsburgh’s Week 7 bye.

He and the Steelers will try to get back on track in a difficult matchup against the Packers at Lambeau Field this afternoon.

The Steelers continue to deal with injuries, and we can now add Ben Roethlisberger to the list of the walking wounded. Mike Tomlin revealed today that his starting quarterback is dealing with a left pectoral injury.

The head coach wasn’t sure when Roethlisberger specifically suffered the injury during the Steelers Week 2 loss to the Raiders. Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the 39-year-old was hit 10 times (including a pair of sacks), and Tomlin made it clear that the team had to do a better job of protecting their quarterback.

“He took too many hits.,” Tomlin said (via Pryor). “We can run the ball better. We can get the ball out of his hand quicker. We can stay on schedule and not get behind the sticks and get in situations where the line of the game is so far that that that enhances the rush.”

Through his first two games of the season, Roethlisberger has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 483 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. If he was forced to miss time, the team could turn to Mason Rudolph or Dwayne Haskins.

Roethlisberger isn’t the only Steelers player dealing with an injury. T.J. Watt left Sunday’s game, while wideout Diontae Johnson suffered an injury on the final play of the game. Devin Bush and Joe Haden missed Sunday’s contest with groin injuries.

Ben Roethlisberger is back for his 18th season with the Steelers. It’s fair to wonder if this is his last, but Big Ben says he’s taking things one step at a time, like always. 

“I’m going to approach this like I do every season: like it’s my last,” Roethlisberger said (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala). “I think that’s the approach you have to take, and you don’t approach it that way because it could be your last, but you approach it because every single play in the game of football could be your last…That just means I’m going out to give it everything I have. I’ve never looked toward the future. I’ve always looked toward the right here and now. That’s what’s important for me for this season is giving everything I have right here and right now for this group of guys.”

After being limited to just two games in 2019, Roethlisberger struggled throughout 2020. After the season, he agreed to slash his salary by $5MM. Many believed that the Steelers would have gone in another direction otherwise. But, according to Big Ben, he volunteered to do it.

“(The pay cut) was my idea,” he said. “I told them I wanted to help the team out however we can, and so I went to them and told them I would do whatever I could to help the team sign the guys that are going to help us win football games….I wanted to come back to be a part of what I think is a special football team that everyone’s overlooking. In order to do that, to help get guys here, I felt that it was necessary to do that.”

Whether it was the Steelers’ idea or Big Ben’s idea, the speculation can be put in the rear view mirror. Roethlisberger is set to lead the way once again in 2020 and, thanks to JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s own home team discount, he’ll have his top target along for the ride.

We heard earlier Thursday that Ben Roethlisberger had come to an agreement with the Steelers, and now we have the details on the restructure.

Roethlisberger reduced his compensation from $19MM to $14MM for this season, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He then spread the cash payment out into future seasons, saving the team about $15MM in cap space for this season in total. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network then tweeted the full breakdown. He’s getting a $12.925MM signing bonus, and a $1.075MM base salary for 2021.

As expected, the new pact has four voidable years that will void after this season, so it technically now runs through 2025 for cap purposes. The Steelers were in a bad cap spot, so they desperately needed this move to have any flexibility this offseason.

There had been a lot of discussion about whether it would simply be a restructure, or if Roethlisberger would take a drastic pay-cut, and in the end it wound up somewhere in between. After a whole lot of drama, the issues is officially put to rest, and Big Ben will be Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback for one more ride.

After a whole lot of drama, it now appears that Ben Roethlisberger is in fact going to be the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2021. Things aren’t wrapped up though, as Big Ben still needs to adjust his contract in a way that satisfies Pittsburgh’s management.

Roethlisberger currently has a cap hit north of $40MM for 2021, and that isn’t going to stand. The team’s options are limited, and in a recent TV hit Brooke Pryor of ESPN laid out what they are (Twitter video link). Pryor says the team can give Roethlisberger a four-year extension, which would void after 2021 and save the them around $14MM in cap space for this season. The extension would be strictly a technical maneuver to spread cap charges, as those voidable years being tacked on to contracts have become increasingly popular recently.

The other option she lays out is to have Roethlisberger take a massive pay-cut to play for the veteran minimum, which would reduce his 2021 cap charge down to around $23MM. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network seems to think after conversing with a source that voidable years are the likeliest path, even though as he notes it’s something the Steelers don’t often do (Twitter video link).

He thinks the Steelers will give Big Ben a big signing bonus for this season to ensure he still gets paid starting QB money, and then spread that bonus out over several voidable years. Getting lost in all the contract talk is how Roethlisberger will actually look when it comes time to take the field.

Team president Art Rooney II said this week that he’s not too concerned about his actual play, via the team’s official site. “We think Ben played at a high level last year,” Rooney said. “We won our division and set a franchise record for most consecutive wins to open a season, so there was a lot of good stuff.”

Rooney even addressed the concerns about Roethlisberger’s physical limitations after the elbow surgery that cost him almost the entire 2019 season. “His arm, I would say, is as strong or almost as strong as ever, so I think he’s certainly capable of getting the job done.” Observers of 2020 Steelers games might disagree, but it’s interesting to here nonetheless. Rooney also said March 17th, the beginning of the new year, is a deadline to get something done, although he hopes it’ll happen before then.

Steelers president Art Rooney met with Ben Roethlisberger on Tuesday to discuss the quarterback’s future. On Wednesday morning, Rooney let fans know that the meeting was productive and a big step towards moving forward together. 

“Ben Roethlisberger and I met yesterday morning and we had a productive meeting,” Rooney said. “We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we want to go. Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship. We both understand the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation.”

Roethlisberger’s agent Ryan Tollner made similar comments yesterday following the meeting. Of course, the big barrier here is Big Ben’s contract. The veteran is set to count for more than $41MM against the Steelers’ 2021 cap. In one fashion or another, that number has to be tampered down. It’s the highest cap hit of any player for 2021, and the overall salary cap is set to drop for the first time in a decade.

Roethlisberger, who turns 39 next week, isn’t the only Steelers player in flux. JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner, Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton and Alejandro Villanueva are also slated for free agency, and the Steelers don’t have the capital to keep all of them. Even without those players factored in, the Steelers are already looking at a ~$210MM payroll, which probably puts them $20MM-$25MM over the to-be-determined max.