Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers have come to the conclusion that they will join forces again in 2021. With the hardest part out of the way, the Steelers can only hit a few empty years on Ben’s deal and be done, right? Not so fast. The Pittsburgh Steelers never put invalid years on a contract. So if Ben Roethlisberger wants to return in 2021, I see it as very likely that legal playing years will be added to the end of his deal.
What a maximum restructuring of Ben Roethlisberger’s current contract with the # Steelers would look, freeing up $ 20.34 million of space in 2021, but adding $ 14.34 million of dead amount for 2022 when the transaction is void. pic.twitter.com/2wIpNfUomb
– Spotrac (@spotrac) 24 February 2021
It’s pretty easy to explain why. With invalid years, the Steelers will essentially push money to future cap hits while the player is not in the rankings. With a real extension, however, Ben Roethlisberger can choose to retire whenever he wants, but both sides will agree to work together for at least another season.
It is also very clear that Steelers president Art Rooney II has a very special bond with the Steelers fullback. Rooney personally gave Roethlisberger his stamp to come back in 2021 and beyond. Regardless of who wanted to change things within the front office, Rooney himself has the most power within the organization. Whatever he says, and from the outside it looks like Rooney is not prepared to separate the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger before Roethlisberger is ready to hang up his clothes himself.
A real expansion could also save the Steelers $ 14,340,000 on the salary cap in 2021. Regardless of what salary the two parties agree on for future years, the money will be taken into account. But to work out an agreement like this, the Steelers can get an estimated $ 7 million above the salary cap. This does not necessarily mean that Roethlisberger will play another season after 2021, but if his level of play is adequate and Ben wants to continue to add a legal year or two, the door will be open if both parties prefer it. By adding a salary component each year, Roethlisberger sticks to the Steelers if both parties agree and nothing changes if Roethlisberger chooses to retire before the end of the contract.
While some people collapse at the thought of Ben Roethlisberger’s multiple years at the helm of the Steelers offense, I need to remind you of what he was dealing with once the Steelers hit their collapse in late season. Namely, his offensive coordinator had no creativity and was extremely predictable. The Steelers’ running attack was at the bottom of the league, Ben allegedly struggled on both knees, he spent the 2020 season in rehabilitation and his offensive line fell back. The Steelers have already begun resolving some of these issues, and with a strong concept, Roethlisberger can provide the scheme and talent to improve over the past year.
But what do you think? Would the Steelers break the tradition of never using trivial years in Roethlisberger’s next contract? Will he play past 2021? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.