Roethlisberger Not Gone Yet

[oldgrappler]

So, the Miami of Ohio grad is willing to rework his contract so the Steelers have more cap space to sign their upcoming free agents like Ju Ju Smith-Schuster.  President Art Rooney II said:

“Ben Roethlisberger and I met [Tuesday morning] and we had a productive meeting,’' Rooney said in a statement released by the team. “We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we went 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,” Rooney said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation.’'

We, meaning the Cleveland Browns team, media, and fans, thought we had seen the last of Big Ben in the Steelers playoff loss to the Browns.  When I saw him sitting on the bench after the game with Center, Maurkice Pouncey, and tears running down their cheeks, I figured they knew that it was the end of an era.  A few weeks off and Ben is ready to try again.  My thought is that the Steelers are only prolonging the inevitable. 

See the full article here:  Big Ben Is Back

 

[TheDeuce]

Please cut ties and move on... Keeping him around five or six years longer than you should have is going to hurt the franchise long term. He's washed, find someone new to lead the team. 

[theguru]

8 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Please cut ties and move on... Keeping him around five or six years longer than you should have is going to hurt the franchise long term. He's washed, find someone new to lead the team. 

I agree.  I think this will not only set the Steelers back next year but possibly for a couple of more years after that.

[TheDeuce]

12 minutes ago, theguru said:

I agree.  I think this will not only set the Steelers back next year but possibly for a couple of more years after that.

Doesn't help that you have three good young QB's in the same division. 

[bugatti]

Wowzer.

The Steelers are in a tough situation with the current Big Ben contract. They have a massive cap hit coming and it is a lot easier said than done to simply cut ties without tanking the entire season. Not because the QB situation would be worse, but because they would have so much dead money the Steelers wouldn't be able to acquire any free agents for a team set to lose a lot of pieces.

This article explains it pretty well. The best solution might be to sign Big Ben to an "extension" where they can spread the hit over multiple years.

To do that, the Steelers could sign Roethlisberger to an “extension,” which would leak into 2022. They could then convert most of the $19 million into a signing bonus and spread that cap hit across two seasons. Roethlisberger would get all of that money immediately, making him happy. The Steelers would get to push millions of dollars into 2022, making them less unhappy. It’s a win-win—or maybe a not lose–not lose.

A lot of this depends on Roethlisberger’s willingness to take a pay cut, but he’s stated he is fine with that (we’ll see whether he really meant it, or whether he’ll be all passive-aggressive when someone orders Greek food).

Pittsburgh will eventually need to find a long-term solution under center, but Roethlisberger making one last run with the team seems like the most likely solution. Colbert’s “as we sit here today” line may just be an attempt to get Roethlisberger to take a serious pay cut when they sit down for negotiations.

But this isn’t just about money. It’s also about the Steelers not having many options.

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2021/2/25/22296208/ben-roethlisberger-steelers-qb-situation-draft-free-agency-trades

[theguru]

2 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Doesn't help that you have three good young QB's in the same division. 

Right.  I assume the Steelers will be competitive no matter what because they are the Steelers but the AFC North looks rock solid from top to bottom with the one exception that the Steelers have a major hurdle at QB and with their cap. 

[futurecoach]

2 hours ago, oldgrappler said:

So, the Miami of Ohio grad is willing to rework his contract so the Steelers have more cap space to sign their upcoming free agents like Ju Ju Smith-Schuster.  President Art Rooney II said:

“Ben Roethlisberger and I met [Tuesday morning] and we had a productive meeting,’' Rooney said in a statement released by the team. “We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we went 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,” Rooney said in a statement released Wednesday morning. “We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation.’'

We, meaning the Cleveland Browns team, media, and fans, thought we had seen the last of Big Ben in the Steelers playoff loss to the Browns.  When I saw him sitting on the bench after the game with Center, Maurkice Pouncey, and tears running down their cheeks, I figured they knew that it was the end of an era.  A few weeks off and Ben is ready to try again.  My thought is that the Steelers are only prolonging the inevitable. 

See the full article here:  Big Ben Is Back

 

I’m pretty sure Big Ben said the very next day after the lost, that he wanted to keep playing. So I think it has been known for awhile that he is coming back. The big question was if it would be with the Steelers, since his cap hit was so high. 

[bugatti]

8 minutes ago, futurecoach said:

I’m pretty sure Big Ben said the very next day after the lost, that he wanted to keep playing. So I think it has been known for awhile that he is coming back. The big question was if it would be with the Steelers, since his cap hit was so high. 

With that kind of money on the table, of course he wants to return. (I would, too)

[MJAlltheWay24]

Feels like good news for the rest of the division.

[nkypete]

1 hour ago, theguru said:

Right.  I assume the Steelers will be competitive no matter what because they are the Steelers but the AFC North looks rock solid from top to bottom with the one exception that the Steelers have a major hurdle at QB and with their cap. 

What makes you think that the Bengals are "rock solid"?🙄

[theguru]

3 minutes ago, nkypete said:

What makes you think that the Bengals are "rock solid"?🙄

Great QB, motivated coach, only a few players away, capable of beating anyone on a given Sunday, biased fanboy. 

[nkypete]

1 minute ago, theguru said:

Great QB, motivated coach, only a few players away, capable of beating anyone on a given Sunday, biased fanboy. 

I am definitely a Bengals fan who thinks that they are more than a few players away.  Plus, their depth at many positions is suspect.  Yes, any even Sunday.  But I fear more experiences like what the Ravens did to them at end of the last season.

[The Raven]

Sounds like Big Ben feels he has a few more 5 INT games left in his arm.

[catholicdude]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:36 AM, theguru said:

Great QB, motivated coach, only a few players away, capable of beating anyone on a given Sunday, biased fanboy. 

I'll give you the potentially "Great QB."  However that is totally reliant on him getting back to 100% and getting a line to protect him.  Past that, you are reaching: 

"Motivated Coach" just means the he hasn't done enough to have a secure job.

"A few players away" is correct if by "a few" you mean about 15 that are substantially better than the current players at that position.  

"Capable of beating anyone..."   Any team in the NFL is capable of beating anyone on a given Sunday.  Good teams get that done, the Bengals do not.  "Coming Close" to winning a game, isn't winning a game.  On the PGA Tour, if you come close, you still win a bunch of money.  In the NFL if you come close, you are just a Looser.

[futurecoach]

On 2/25/2021 at 11:39 AM, nkypete said:

I am definitely a Bengals fan who thinks that they are more than a few players away.  Plus, their depth at many positions is suspect.  Yes, any even Sunday.  But I fear more experiences like what the Ravens did to them at end of the last season.

True if you want to pick one game out to focus on, that is a tough one to look at to get excited about. Or you could look at how they with Burrow beat a playoff team in the Titans. With Burrow had two other playoff teams in the Colts and Browns (second game) beat and ended up blowing it. Could look at how the Bengals finally over came two areas in one game that had be a huge problem for them for many years. In being able to beat the Steelers, and also winning in prime time. They were able to overcome both in one game, a game where they were basically starting a third string QB. Missing their starting RB, starting LT, starting TE, etc. and still ended up getting the prime time woes and Steelers monkey off their back. 
 

Are they going to flip that around and be true super bowl contenders by this season? Probably not. Did they show enough, to where it is reasonable to think that they could make a big jump and be a playoff team this year depending how FA and the draft goes? Absolutely.