One of the big pressing questions that Pittsburgh Steelers’ general manager Kevin Colbert faced all offseason was when exactly he would get around to extending franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s contract.
We got our answer to that question on Friday and as expected, the Steelers won’t be extending Big Ben.
At least not this offseason.
It has long been the M.O. of the Steelers to extend their quarterbacks when they have two years remaining on their deals, which is where Roethlisberger is right now.
However it all comes down to money and the Steelers simply don’t have the cap space to get something done with Big Ben, even though he is coming off a fantastic 2013 season.
Team president Art Rooney II explained Friday that Roethlisberger has been informed the Steelers will not extend his contract until after the 2014 season, when salary-cap space becomes available.
Roethlisberger has two years remaining on an eight-year, $102 million deal signed in 2008. However, players such as center Maurkice Pouncey was entering the final year of his deal and the team had to use the transition tag on linebacker Jason Worilds to keep him around one more season.
Even though the Steelers are entering a slippery slope, allowing a quarterback like Roethlisberger to enter the 2015 season on the final year of his deal, it seems like Big Ben is fine with the idea.
“Yes, all of those things are factors in the decision,” Rooney explained, via the team’s official website. “The other key thing is that Ben wants to be part of a winning team, to be in a position to compete for championships, and he understands that in order to do that we need to try to keep as many of the other players around as we can.”
“So, addressing the players who are going into the final years of their contracts in 2014 makes sense. That’s what he and I talked about.”
If Roethlisberger has another season like last year he is going to require quite the payday.
Even if he gives the team a hometown discount, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could make $20 million annually, especially when you consider the contracts handed out the past two years to signal callers such as Joe Flacco and Jay Cutler.
However even if Roethlisberger gets around the $20 million per season range, the Steelers can give him a large chunk of that upfront to soften the yearly cap hit. Also throw in the fact that another significant spike is expected in the 2015 salary cap — the spending ceiling increased by $10 million this season- and even if it is not typical, it does make a lot of sense to wait another year to make sure Roethlisberger is in a Steelers uniform for the rest of his career.
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