SATURDAY, 8:44am: The five-year deal is worth $99MM, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). He notes that the value can increase to $108MM.
Albert Breer of the NFL Network reports (on Twitter) that Roethlisberger will make $65MM through the first three years, a record payout. Breer also points out that the reported money would give Ben Ben’s contract an average annual value of $21.85MM, right behind Aaron Rodgers’ league-leading $22MM AAV.
FRIDAY, 4:09pm: Roethlisberger has officially signed his new deal, which is a five-year pact, the team announced today (via Twitter). The contract keeps Big Ben locked up through the 2019 season.
2:35pm: The Steelers (on Twitter) announced that they have reached agreement with Ben Roethlisberger on a new contract. The two sides have been working on a reworked deal for some time.
GM Kevin Colbert told reporters last month at the combine that talks between the two sides were progressing. The GM was very confident that it could be done within a traditional cap structure, so that’s likely what we’ll see out of Pittsburgh.
Big Ben was set to enter the final year of his contract, earning a $11.6MM base to go along with a prorated $6.795MM, adding up to a massive $18.395MM cap number. The Steelers carried that amount plus $500K last season, but the new deal should smooth that out while giving the quarterback some additional years.
Even though Big Ben is getting up there in years, he boosted his stock with a strong 2014 campaign. The 33-year-old threw for a career-high 4,952 yards and completed 408-of-608 passes with 32 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The advanced metrics were also impressed with Roethlisberger’s play. The Pro Bowler finished the year with an overall score of 29.0 (per Pro Football Focus, subscription required), placing him third amongst all qualified quarterbacks behind Drew Brees (No. 2) and Aaron Rodgers (No. 1). That posting portrayed him as one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL as opposed to 2013, where he finished just outside of the top 10.