Sports
Big Ben's Contract, Salary Cap Impacting His Return To Steelers
Steelers owner Art Rooney II says "there's a lot of work to be done" financially for Ben Roethlisberger to return next season.
PITTSBURGH, PA — Steelers owner Art Rooney II wants Ben Roethlisberger back as the team's quarterback next season, but his exorbitant contract and its impact on the Steelers salary camp could make a return difficult.
Rooney met with various Steelers reporters Thursday for his annual end of the season interview. He indicated that Roethlisberger's $41.2 million salary cap hit was too great for the team to absorb since the cap is being reduced because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Just finished Art Rooney II's state of the Steelers. He says Ben Roethlisberger wants to be back next year, but there will have to be significant concessions for that to happen with the cap situation because that $41.2M cap hit can't work with the reduction in salary cap.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 28, 2021
Art Rooney II: “I think we’d like to see Ben back for another year if that can work, but as we’ve said, there’s a lot of work to be done to see if that can happen. There may need to be decision to be made for that to happen.”
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) January 28, 2021
The Athletic's Mark Kaboly speculated that despite the enormous cap hit that Roethlisberger's contract could successfully be restructured.
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A contract alteration for Ben Roethlisberger doesn't mean a pay cut, IMO. It means an extension where the added seasons guaranteed money will be well below average for QBs and easily cuttable. It would provide Steelers with immediate cap relief.
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 28, 2021
Roethlisberger, who will be 39 in March, just concluded his 17th season with the Steelers. He led the team to an 11-0 start before it suffered another late-season collapse that ended with a first-round playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns.
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