Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers president Art Rooney II met on Tuesday, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe meeting would “go well,” as Roethlisberger and Rooney undoubtedly discussed the quarterback’s future with the organization.
Roethlisberger, who will turn 39 next month, has publicly expressed a desire to return to Pittsburgh for his 18th season. Last month, he told The Athletic’s Ed Bocuhette that he is more than willing to adjust his salary to help the Steelers manage their cap situation.
“I want to do everything I can,” Roethlisberger said, “and made it very clear to them from the start that it was my idea to help the team as best I could this year.”
According to Spotrac, Roethlisberger has a base salary of $ 4 million, a roster bonus of $ 15 million (to be paid on March 19), while he has a maximum hit of more than $ 41 million. As CBS Sports’ Joel Corry noted last month, the Steelers put themselves in this position last March when they lowered its 2020 limit from $ 33.5 million to $ 23.75 million by $ 19.5 million from its $ 21 million 2020 compensation into a signing bonus. Roethlisberger’s limit for 2021 was increased by $ 9.75 million.
“I think we’ve been up front with Ben to let him know we couldn’t get him back under the current contract and so I think he understands we have some work to do there,” Rooney II said last month. via Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider. ‘We will have more conversations. We will have more internal discussions. We will have more conversations with Ben. Of course, at some point we will have to know what the cap number is in order to be able to finalize some of those decisions. ‘
Earlier this month, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was transparent when asked about Roethlisberger’s future.
“With Ben’s current cap number, some adjustments will have to be made”, Colbert said, via Dulac. “Hopefully there is some way we can figure out what is best for the organization. Hopefully he can see that and feel the same way. There is still a lot of work to be done.”
While it seems like they are open to Roethlisberger, the Steelers don’t seem to be building their team for 2021 to best complement him. Since the end of the 2020 season, Pittsburgh has moved away from offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, who is close to Roethlisberger. The Steelers have also given no guarantees that they will lay down two of Roethlisberger’s favorite attacking teammates: receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back James Conner. And while it wasn’t the team, Roethlisberger’s closest teammate, center Maurkice Pouncey, announced his retirement earlier this month.
Unlike in previous years, the Steelers don’t tailor their team to Roethlisberger’s needs. It’s similar to what happened in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers, who fielded infamous Rodgers’ successor in place of a receiver in the first round last year. The Steelers aren’t pushing Big Ben out the door, but it looks like they are letting him choose between retiring, playing elsewhere, or playing on a completely different Steelers team than the one he played in 2020.
If Roethlisberger chooses to continue, Colbert said the Steelers will prepare to play with Mason Rudolph as their starter in 2021. That would give Pittsburgh a year to determine if Rudolph – who is the last year of his contract takes effect – is or is not. Roethlisberger’s long-term successor. There is also a chance that the Steelers will use their first round pick on a quarterback. Pittsburgh, which is expected to have nine choices in the draft, could act to acquire one of the top-rated quarterbacks in this year’s draft, a scenario that CBS NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson played in his most recent mock -design.