USA TODAY Sports
It’s one thing for the Steelers to want to bring back full-back Ben Roethlisberger for another year. The Steelers want to pay him the full $ 19 million he will earn in 2021.
It is currently unclear whether the Steelers will try to get Roethlisberger to take less money. If it’s just a matter of moving money, it’s an easy proposition: reduce his total compensation from $ 19 million to the veteran minimum of $ 1,075 million and turn the rest into a sign up bonus that should spread over several years word. As explained last month, a new four-year deal with three dummy years and a $ 17.925 million bonus will lower the 2021 Roethlisberger cap from $ 41.25 million to $ 26.73 million.
It’s an easy approach, giving Roethlisberger every penny he’s going to make and reducing his cap. This is not something that meetings and conferences and anything other than an email or two between team and agent should require.
It is therefore reasonable to wonder whether the Steelers want to reduce Roethlisberger’s compensation for 2021 below the $ 19 million he earns. Although Roethlisberger has said he does not care about his payment, he certainly does. (He must.) How much less is he then willing to take before drawing a line in the sand?
Another possibility would be to convert some of its 2021 payment into a so-called “improbably deserving” incentive so that the cost of capital can be shifted to 2021 – if Roethlisberger meets the trigger (s) for the payment. It could be a middle ground that offers Roethlisberger a way to earn the full $ 19 million if he performs at a sufficiently high level.
No matter how it plays out, if it were easy to come up with a new contract for Roethlisberger, it would have already been done. Until that is done, it is reasonable to wonder whether an impasse will eventually be reached.
Either way it plays, the clock is ticking. Roethlisberger earned a $ 15 million roster bonus on March 19th. Whatever team and player do, they have to do it before March 19th.
Actually, they have to do it before 5:01 pm ET on March 17th. It is then that the Steelers should be expected to have the 2021 ceiling (whatever that is), and when Roethlisberger will count for $ 41.25 million under his current deal.