Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced a two-year extension for QB Ben Roethlisberger. The 37-year-old’s new contract will bring him to the end of the 2021 season. He’s set to earn $68 million over the final two seasons.
Pittsburgh has gone through quite a bit in the last couple years. They had a long standing contract battle with RB Le’Veon Bell that eventually resulted in the All-Pro sitting out the entire 2018-19 campaign before being signed by the Jets in free agency. They also lost arguably the best WR in the NFL in Antonio Brown. The AB saga is one that was well-documented. From broadcasting live in the locker room to fighting at practice, Brown was destined to leave the Steel City. That time finally came in the form of a trade to the Oakland Raiders. Pittsburgh rid themselves of the star wideout for pennies on the dollar.
Now, the one remaining star of their “Killer B’s” trio is the QB. Oh, and he’s had his fair share of issues recently. He was cited as a reason that Brown wanted out of Pittsburgh. Even more recent, former Steelers’ RB Rashard Mendenhall took to Twitter to call the QB racist.
While Mendenhall did quickly “backtrack” just three hours later, it’s not a great look for #7.
And, now the Steelers have made the decision to keep Roethlisberger for at least the next three seasons. During that time, they’ll be passing on top draft prospects such as Trevor Lawrence, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, and Jacob Fromm. They’ll also miss out on possible free agent years for Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, and Dak Prescott. That’s not to say that any of those guys would be the perfect franchise QB, but they’re options.
Statistically, Roethlisberger has been going through an interesting stage. Last season, he led the league in passing yards (5,129), while simultaneously leading the league in interceptions (16). Now, without Antonio Brown and being another year older, what do those numbers look like? Will Juju Smith-Schuster be able to take on the role of a true WR1? These are questions that are worth asking, and apparently, the Steelers already have the answers.
What was the risk of playing out the one year remaining on his previous deal? It’s unlikely that Roethlisberger would’ve made more than $34 million/year if he played out the year. The benefit of waiting out the year is seeing how the offenses works without Brown as the WR1 since 2011. To me, the reward is worth the risk. If he doesn’t perform, you can either get him on a much cheaper deal or MAYBE you realize you should start looking to the future. Either one is better in my mind.
In the end, the move might work out for Pittsburgh, but signing this extension when they did doesn’t make much sense to me.