After a deliberate climb to the top of the NFL rankings, the Steelers experienced a sharp fall to end their season. Similarly, full-back Ben Roethlisberger was in excellent form for a better part of three months before showing his age in the series.
Was the loss of game card last week then the last we would see of the future Hall of Famer? Probably not.
There is optimism within the organization that Big Ben will be back in 2021, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported Saturday. Coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week that a return of Roethlisberger is welcome. This would include a new offensive coordinator, as the team has already separated from longtime assistant Randy Fichtner.
Part of the discussion is probably about Roethlisberger’s contract. He’s another year in the books at $ 19 million, which is hardly troublesome. But his cap is a whopping $ 41 million. Seventeen years into their marriage, Big Ben and the Steelers should have no trouble easing the figure, Garafolo noted.
A restructuring will help the team retain some of its upcoming free agents. Per Garafolo, Roethlisberger has already communicated that if he returns, he also wants wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on board.
The two swayed a week ago in Pittsburgh’s defeat to the Browns. Smith-Schuster peaked at 13 catches and 157 yards. Big Ben’s 47 rounds, 501 yards, 4 touchdowns, were also his pinnacle of the 2020 campaign. But so do his four interceptions. They restrict a late-season swoon from the 38-year-old.
After throwing 22 TDs to just 4 INTs during the first nine games of the season, which made it even more impressive because he missed almost the entire 2019 with an elbow injury, his ratio dropped to 15-10 over the last eight. His fight, of course, coincides almost entirely with the Steelers, who started 11-0 before losing five of their last six games.
That’s not how they wanted to go out. It would be a surprise if it ended like this for Roethlisberger.