Ben Roethlisberger

Steelers Want Ben Roethlisberger Back

February 23rd, 2021 at 8:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

8:25pm: Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hears that Tollner’s statment was accurate and that Rooney has indeed told Big Ben that he wants him back in 2021. Rooney is expected to make a statement to that effect tomorrow.

5:39pm: After Kevin Colbert made comments that put Ben Roethlisberger‘s status with the 2021 Steelers on shaky ground, the future Hall of Fame quarterback has now met with Steelers owner Art Rooney II. That meeting may have gone quite well.

The Steelers want Roethlisberger to return for the ’21 season, according to his agent, Ryan Tollner. Tollner indicated the team has the 17-year veteran in its plans and will contact him soon regarding the QB’s new cap arrangement, per Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com (on Twitter). Roethlisberger is set to count more than $41MM against Pittsburgh’s 2021 cap.

It would seem Big Ben’s cap number would need to be addressed before most of the Steelers’ other matters, which do not involve numbers that big. No player’s 2021 cap number surpasses Roethlisberger’s, and it cannot be reduced below $23MM. The Steelers are currently $19MM over the projected 2021 cap, though they have been making moves to get under it. Roethlisberger’s contract represents the top domino in this process.

Although Big Ben threw 33 touchdown passes — his second-most as a pro — he finished 22nd in Total QBR during a Steelers season that tailed off down the stretch. Roethlisberger wrapped his 2020 campaign with a four-interception playoff game but did make a successful return after a severe elbow injury that ended his 2019 season early.

Roethlisberger will turn 39 next week, but the Steelers have yet to make a true investment in Roethlisberger’s long-term successor. And their 12-4 record puts them in the back half of the first round. A Ben return would help stabilize the team’s QB situation for at least one more season.

Fond of restructuring contracts, the Steelers have gotten to work on this front by redoing Cameron Heyward‘s deal. With the cap expected to drop from $198MM to near the $180MM mark, more such moves will need to be made. The Steelers are not expected to use their franchise tag to retain either Bud Dupree or JuJu Smith-Schuster, and other free agents like Mike Hilton, Alejandro Villanueva and James Conner may well depart. Roethlisberger may return for an 18th season, but the Steelers figure to look considerably different after this offseason.

Ben Roethlisberger Meets With Art Rooney II

February 23rd, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Plenty of eyebrows were raised last week when Steelers GM Kevin Colbert sounded unenthused (to put it kindly) about the prospect of Ben Roethlisberger returning in 2021. Colbert gave the classic GM-speak kiss of death of “as we sit here today, Ben Roethlisberger is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” and also said “quite frankly, we need to look at the situation.”

Then adding further fuel to the fire, Aditi Kinkhabwala of ESPN.com tweeted that the team still hadn’t reached out to Big Ben to set up a time to talk about his contract. Either it’s just funny timing, or someone within the building was reading Kinkhabwala’s tweets, because that’s no longer the case. Roethlisberger has met with Steelers owner Art Rooney II, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette tweets.

He doesn’t have many details, but sources told Dulac that the meeting “went well.” Of course, we’ve heard all offseason that Pittsburgh isn’t interested in bringing Roethlisberger back at his $40MM+ cap charge, and that he’ll need to restructure his deal to return for one more ride.

To his credit Roethlisberger has said that’s fine by him, and that he doesn’t care what he ends up making in 2021. Right after the season ended it looked like Big Ben returning was something of a done deal, then recent comments from the organization made everything seem very much up in the air.

Today’s meeting is the first step back in the other direction, and it shows the Steelers actually do have some intention of working something out with their franchise icon. We should know a lot more about this meeting and what comes next soon.

Latest On Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger

February 17th, 2021 at 12:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers remain somewhat confident in Ben Roethlisberger going forward, and after a meeting with the future Hall of Fame quarterback, the consensus was that he intends to return for an 18th season. But GM Kevin Colbert stopped short of fully committing to the 17-year veteran for 2021.

Colbert said Wednesday, via NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, Roethlisberger communicated to them he wants to return for an 18th season. His contract runs through 2021. But Colbert said he, Art Rooney II and Mike Tomlin informed the passer “quite frankly, we need to look at the situation” (Twitter link).

Roethlisberger said recently he is willing to restructure his contract to help the Steelers, but they are well over the projected 2020 salary cap. The Steelers and Big Ben are not currently negotiating, per Colbert, who added (via Steelers.com’s Missi Matthews, (on Twitter), “As we sit here today, Ben Roethlisberger is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.” That sort of statement certainly qualifies as eyebrow-raising, especially considering the Steelers’ lack of a surefire QB plan that does not involve Big Ben.

“It involves the players around him. I’m sure he’s going to to want to see what type of team we can keep together under our current situation,” Colbert said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com (Twitter links). “Then we’re making guesstimates as to what we can do to put the best team together for our sake and for Ben’s sake. What kind of team can he anticipate being around him if we decide we can move forward together.”

Colbert said he believes Roethlisberger can “absolutely” still do special things, despite going into his age-39 season and coming off a four-INT playoff game. But he was less bullish on his quarterback than he was during the 2020 offseason, when Roethlisberger was coming off a severe elbow injury. As of Wednesday, Roethlisberger’s 2021 cap number sits at an NFL-high $41.3MM. He is due a $15MM roster bonus March 19.

Roethlisberger would still count $22MM against Pittsburgh’s cap if he retired, and a $27MM cap figure would be the lowest possible if the Steelers extended him, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes (on Twitter). Even if he returned for the league minimum in base salary, Ben’s contract would still produce a cap number north of $23MM next season.

“Hopefully there’s a way we can figure out what’s best for the organization,” Colbert said, via Kinkhabwala (on Twitter). “Hopefully he can see that and feel the same way.”

The Steelers will also look quite different than they did in January. They have JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner, Bud Dupree, Mike Hilton and Alejandro Villanueva a month from free agency. Without any of these players factoring into the equation, the Steelers are $30MM over the projected $180MM salary cap. Pittsburgh has Mason Rudolph going into a contract year and signed Dwayne Haskins recently, but the team has not made a true investment in a long-term quarterback since selecting Roethlisberger in the 2004 first round.

Latest On Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger

January 30th, 2021 at 12:10pm CST by Ben Levine

While it sounds like Ben Roethlisberger is willing to meet the financial demands of owner Art Rooney II, those impending contract discussions still left some question marks about the quarterback’s future in Pittsburgh. Well, it sounds like Roethlisberger will have a say in roster construction, another indication that he’ll be back next season. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (via Twitter) that Roethlisberger is set to meet with Rooney and head coach Mike Tomlin next month to discuss “what roster plans they have for the 2021 season.”

“Ben knows he has more left, but having key players back, like (Maurkice) Pouncey, will be important,” agent Ryan Tollner told Dulac (Twitter link). “Ben’s contract won’t hold things up. We told them immediately after the season we will make any necessary adjustment to help their cap situation in 2021.”

Earlier this week, we learned that Rooney wanted to reduce Roethlisberger’s $41.2MM cap hit for next season. We learned later that day that the quarterback’s camp was willing to oblige, and these recent quotes from Tollner seem to emphasize that they won’t be haggling over a contract. It sounds like the main sticking point will focus on what the Steelers do with the rest of their roster.

The organization is already projected to be more than $30MM over a $175MM cap, though it is not known how far the cap will drop from this year’s $198MM ceiling. Wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster is set to hit free agency, and the Steelers front office will have to trim some more salaries (like, potentially, Pouncey’s) before the start of next season. While any hypothetical Roethlisberger restructuring would undoubtedly help the cause, the organization will still have to make tough decisions elsewhere on their roster.

Roethlisberger Willing To Restructure Deal

January 28th, 2021 at 3:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shortly after Art Rooney II indicated Ben Roethlisberger would need to restructure his contract to return to the Steelers next season, the future Hall of Fame quarterback said he would do so.

Roethlisberger, who has contended he wants to return for an 18th season, said Thursday he is not concerned about money for the 2021 season and is willing to restructure, Ed Bouchette of The Athletic reports (on Twitter). Roethlisberger’s deal calls for a whopping $41MM cap hit next season. The 38-year-old quarterback went to the Steelers about restructuring his contract.

“I want to do everything I can and made that very clear to them from the very beginning that it was my idea to basically help the team however I can this year,” Roethlisberger said, via Bouchette (Twitter links). “I am pretty sure I want to go one more year (because) I think I can do it and give us a real chance (at) winning.”

The Steelers are projected to be more than $30MM over a $175MM cap, though it is not known how far the cap will drop from this year’s $198MM ceiling. And that is without players like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bud Dupree or Mike Hilton factoring into Pittsburgh’s 2021 payroll. More work will need to be done in order for the Steelers to move under the cap, but Roethlisberger agreeing to a pay cut would make matters much easier for the AFC North champions.

Roethlisberger signed his latest extension, which runs through 2021, in 2019. After counting $23.8MM against Pittsburgh’s 2020 cap, Big Ben’s contract balloons to the untenable $41.25MM figure next season. The decorated quarterback is due a $15MM roster bonus on the third day of the next league year. These numbers appear set to change soon.

Fond of restructures, the Steelers have continually made bad cap situations work. Though this year presents a greater challenge, due to the pandemic forcing a long-expected cap reduction. The franchise also has not made an investment in Big Ben’s surefire successor, even though it has Mason Rudolph and now Dwayne Haskins signed to low-cost deals. Roethlisberger returning at a reduced rate would surely help the Steelers next season, but the team losing several starters in free agency would make it difficult to assemble the kind of roster it possessed this past season.

Art Rooney II: Ben Roethlisberger Needs To Alter Contract If He Wants To Come Back

January 28th, 2021 at 1:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Everything we had heard indicated Ben Roethlisberger wants to come back for one more run in 2021, and that much was confirmed today by Steelers owner Art Rooney II. However, Rooney made clear it’s far from a done deal on Pittsburgh’s end.

Rooney said they can’t do it at Big Ben’s current salary, and that Ben knows that, per Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (Twitter link). Roethlisberger is currently set to have a $41.2MM cap hit for next season, which is obviously out of sync with the state of his play down the stretch this past campaign. “I think we’d like to see Ben back for another year if that can work, but as we’ve said, there’s a lot of work to be done to see if that can happen. There may need to be decision to be made for that to happen,” Rooney said cryptically, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

It sounds like Roethlisberger is going to need to take a significant pay cut, or at least alter his contract to add non-guaranteed years that would reduce his 2021 cap hit, if he wants to play another season in Pittsburgh. As for a potential successor, Rooney said “I think when you look at our room, we’ll have to add somebody to the room this offseason. We’ll look at all the opportunities we have to do that,” Pryor tweets.

Roethlisberger returned from elbow surgery this past year and initially led the team to an 11-0 record, but the offense completely unraveled in the second half as Big Ben was unable, or unwilling, to consistently push the ball down the field.

Roethlisberger isn’t the only key member of the organization who has his future up in the air, as GM Kevin Colbert is on a year to year arrangement and has flirted with retirement. That being said, Rooney did say as of right now he believes Colbert will be running the front office in 2021, Pryor tweets. “I feel like Kevin is going to come back, but who knows,” he said.

Rooney acknowledged the team is in a tough cap situation, especially with the cap expected to fall next year due to COVID-19 related revenue losses. What exactly will happen with Roethlisberger, 39 in March, seems uncertain, but at least we know for sure now that he isn’t retiring.

Rooney made it sound like the team isn’t exactly thrilled to be running it back, but in all likelihood this will end with Roethlisberger and the team agreeing to an altered contract, and we’ll see Big Ben under center come Week 1.

AFC Notes: Tomlin, Big Ben, Ravens, Texans

December 29th, 2020 at 3:02pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Steelers announced Tuesday that Mason Rudolph will start in Week 17 against the Browns as Ben Roethlisberger rests up for the playoffs, but that isn’t the only quarterback question lingering over the franchise. Big Ben’s play fell off dramatically after the early part of the season, which has understandably led to some questions about the 38-year-old’s future. We heard just last week that Roethlisberger was planning on returning for 2021, the final year of his contract, but it might not be entirely up to him. Interestingly, head coach Mike Tomlin “will play a critical role in however Pittsburgh moves forward” at quarterback, sources told Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

Steelers GM Kevin Colbert has indicated he could be headed for retirement soon, potentially giving Tomlin even more power here. La Canfora writes that the team is putting off these questions to the offseason, but while he cautions the team isn’t talking too much about Roethlisberger’s decline internally, it sounds like a lot of it will come down to what Tomlin wants to do. Obviously Tomlin and Big Ben have a close bond, and there’s no reason to believe he’ll immediately toss him aside, but “he will have a significant voice in the composition of the quarterback room in 2021,” La Canfora writes. Assuming Roethlisberger comes back, that could mean that Tomlin has more of a direct role in acquiring a potential successor. The 25-year-old Rudolph was serviceable at times last year, but also struggled mightily at others. He hasn’t shown much to inspire confidence that he can be a franchise quarterback. It’ll be a very interesting offseason in Pittsburgh.

Here’s more from the AFC:

The Ravens dealt with a brutal COVID-19 outbreak in the middle of their season, and the league has determined they were partially at fault. The NFL has slapped Baltimore with a $250K fine for protocol violations, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk writes, although they were not docked a draft pick like the Saints were. New Orleans lost a seventh-rounder, Las Vegas forfeited a sixth-rounder, and the Titans were fined $350K, so this is actually on the lighter side of COVID punishments. In a separate piece, Florio writes that strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders was the previously unnamed coach who was suspended for his role in the outbreak. Saunders is now back in the building with his job back after serving a suspension of about a month.
The Texans have a lot of work to do this offseason, most notably finding a new coach and GM after the firing of Bill O’Brien. Houston owner Cal McNair reportedly wants Deshaun Watson‘s input on who the next coach will be, but the team apparently isn’t in any rush to make a hire. That’s because the Texans do not intend to take advantage of the new NFL rule that would allow them to interview head coaching candidates currently on staff with other teams before the season ends, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports. Instead Houston is sticking to their plan of hiring a GM before a coach. They have however been interviewing candidates not currently with a team, including Marvin Lewis and Jim Caldwell recently. There have been murmurs that Watson would like Eric Bieniemy, who obviously is still currently employed by the Chiefs, so that interview won’t be happening immediately.

Ben Roethlisberger Intends To Return In 2021

December 21st, 2020 at 10:28am CST by Rory Parks

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is under contract through the 2021 season, and he has no intention of hanging up the cleats before then. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the 38-year-old signal-caller will be back in 2021.

When Big Ben signed his latest deal in April 2019, Pittsburgh GM Kevin Colbert indicated it would likely be the franchise icon’s last contract with the Steelers. But Colbert later walked back those comments a bit, and owner Art Rooney II said he is open to another Roethlisberger extension that would take him into his age-40 season (and perhaps beyond).

Though Roethlisberger clearly has lost some arm strength and is averaging 6.3 yards per pass attempt — which would be a career-low for a season in which he has played more than two games — he remains one of the most accurate passers in the league and has thrown 29 TDs against just nine interceptions. All told, that amounts to a 94.9 QB rating, and his play is a big reason why the 11-2 Steelers are on the verge of an AFC North title.

A recent report indicated that the organization is concerned about Roethlisberger’s lingering knee injury and his increasing reliance on the short passing game, but Pittsburgh still profiles as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. And while Schefter says the campaign has indeed taken a physical toll on Roethlisberger, sources close to the quarterback say he is having too much fun and likes the team too much to retire at the end of the season.

Due to a contract restructure in March, Roethlisberger is set to have a gargantuan cap hit of $41.25MM in 2021. Even if the salary cap does not drop at all, one would think that another extension or some other type of kick-the-can-down-the-road machination would be in play in order to keep the rest of the roster as stocked as possible. There will still be some difficult decisions to make, but the Steelers will doubtlessly be happy to have their two-time Super Bowl champion back next season.

AFC North Notes: Green, Mayfield, Big Ben

December 15th, 2020 at 1:29pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

During the Bengals’ loss to the Cowboys on Sunday, receiver A.J. Green moved within one touchdown of Chad Johnson for the franchise’s all-time record. But while he was chasing that milestone on the field, his comments after the game might be more significant. Speaking to the media, Green made it “very clear” there’s a good chance he won’t be back in Cincy next year, Ben Baby of ESPN.com writes. “I love my time here,” Green said. “Who knows what is going to happen? I will be ready for anything and be excited to get back to playing football whether it is here or somewhere else.” It’s a stark shift in tone for Green, who has always insisted he envisioned himself playing his entire career with one team.

Green is in the midst of a disappointing season that was supposed to be a triumphant comeback for the former All-Pro after he missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury. Cincinnati placed the franchise tag on him this offseason to buy some time on making a long-term decision, but his production obviously hasn’t matched his price tag so far. There was speculation earlier this year that he wanted to be traded after his usage declined, although he publicly denied that. So far on the year Green has caught only 41 of 88 targets, racking up 419 yards and two touchdowns. Baby notes that Green’s tone has “drastically changed,” and it looks like we might be nearing the end of what was a legendary run with the Bengals. For many years in a row, the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft was one of the best wideouts in the game. Assuming he does explore his options on the open market this spring, at 32 and coming off multiple recent injury-plagued years, he likely won’t be getting any sort of big contract.

Here’s more from the AFC North:

Baker Mayfield had himself a night on Monday Night Football, even as the Browns fell to the Ravens. The former first overall pick has really turned it on recently, and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com wrote even before last night’s game that the young quarterback was “playing himself into blockbuster extension territory in the offseason.” Kay Cabot writes that the coaching staff in Cleveland has grown convinced as the season has gone on that they’ve got their quarterback of the future, and that if he closes the season strong “he can expect to receive the blockbuster extension in the offseason.” It’s been a nice turnaround for the Oklahoma product, as his struggles early on in the year had many questioning whether he was the long-term answer for Kevin Stefanski. With his performances the last few weeks, he’s silenced most of the critics. He has only one interception in his last six games, and has the Browns on the verge of clinching a playoff berth. Mayfield is still under team control for two more seasons after this one, and Kay Cabot writes that at the very least the Browns will be exercising the fifth-year option in his contract for 2022 this offseason. It sounds like he’s about to get a whole lot more than that though.
Mayfield isn’t the only member of the Browns looking for an extension. Receiver Rashard Higgins is playing out the final year of his deal, and while Kay Cabot writes Cleveland will “likely” re-sign him, she also says nothing is imminent on that front. While she notes that players like Higgins are in a holding pattern as teams wait to see what the 2021 salary cap will look like, she also says he “will likely be wrapped up long-term.” The 2016 fifth-round pick had a huge touchdown on Monday night, and now has at least 65 yards in three of his past four games. His playing time has fluctuated through multiple different coaching staffs during his time with the team, and he had only four catches in ten games last year. But when given the opportunity he has usually delivered, like when he had 572 yards and four scores in 13 games in 2018. Now, it sounds like he might finally get rewarded after playing 2020 on a deal that paid him only $910K.
The Steelers have now lost back to back games, and Ben Roethlisberger has struggled mightily in both of them. Even before Sunday’s loss to the Bills, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports wrote that sources told him Roethlisberger’s lingering knee injury has “become a source of greater concern” within the organization. Interestingly, La Canfora reports that Roethlisberger’s close relationship with offensive coordinator Randy Fitchner “has been the cause of some worry” within the team. La Canfora notes that Big Ben is granted wide authority to change calls as he sees fit, and the implication seems to be that he has been checking out of runs too much and dictating the short passing game offense that has begun struggling mightily in recent weeks. Roethlisberger has now gone four straight games averaging 5.8 yards per attempt or fewer. The ground game still wasn’t able to get anything going against Buffalo, and if Roethlisberger’s knee issue turns out to be more serious than we’ve realized, this Steelers offense could be in permanent trouble. This will be a situation to monitor as the regular season draws to a close.

Steelers Activate QB Ben Roethlisberger, Three Others

November 14th, 2020 at 10:56am CST by Ben Levine

Following a brief stint on the COVID-19 reserve list, Ben Roethlisberger will be under center tomorrow against the Bengals. The Steelers announced that they’ve activated their quarterback from the COVID-19 list. The team also activated offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins, running back Jaylen Samuels, and linebacker Vince Williams.

The four players didn’t test positive, but they were close contacts of tight end Vance McDonald, who had a positive test earlier this week. As a result, these players had to isolate for several days and test negative before rejoining the squad.

“I’m doing good,” Roethlisberger said (via Gerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette on Twitter). “I feel great. If my body enjoyed the week off, my mind teaching pre-kindergarten did not enjoy the week off. It’s fun to be home, but I definitely missed the guys.”

Naturally, the team is now making up for lost time in their preparation for Cincinnati. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweets that Roethlisberger was expected to participate in the Steelers walkthrough this morning, with the team hoping to get their veteran quarterback some extra time on the practice field.

After being limited to only a pair of games in 2019, the 38-year-old has played a major role in the Steelers undefeated record in 2020. Roethlisberger has completed 68.1-percent of his passes (a mark that would be a career high) for 1,934 yards, 18 touchdowns, and four interceptions.

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