Steelers GM Won't Commit To Bringing Ben Back

[BFritz21]

It looks like the Steelers are about to be done with Ben.

It's the elephant in the room and they're playing it like it's all a money move, which would sound smart so they don't seem like assholes for a guy that brought them so much success:

Quote:Ben Roethlisberger's future in Pittsburgh remains very much in doubt. Despite Roethlisberger's wiliness to adjust his salary, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert did not express optimism when asked about his quarterback's status for the 2021 season.

Colbert, who drafted Roethlisberger with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft, said that the team is not currently negotiating with Roethlisberger, according to Steelers.com's Missi Matthews. Colbert added that Roethlisberger has met with him, coach Mike Tomlin and team president Art Rooney II. Instead of calming the waters as it relates to Roethlisberger's future, Colbert offered a grim yet transparent update in terms of where things currently are with Roethlisberger and the organization.

"With Ben's current cap number, some adjustments will have to be made," Colbert said, via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Hopefully there's a way we can figure out what's best for the organization. Hopefully he can see that and feel the same way. There's a lot of work to be done."

According to Spotrac, Roethlisberger has a base salary of $4,000,000 and a roster bonus of $15,000,000 in 2021, while carrying a cap hit of $41,250,000. As CBS Sports' Joel Corry noted last month, the Steelers compounded the Roethlisberger problem last March when they lowered his 2020 cap number from $33.5 million to $23.75 million by converting $19.5 million of his $21 million 2020 compensation into a signing bonus. Roethlisberger's 2021 cap number was raised by $9.75 million in the process.

"We've been, I think, up front with Ben in letting him know that we couldn't have him back under the current contract and so I think he understands we have some work to do there," Rooney II said last month, via Jim Wexell of Steel City Insider. "We'll have more conversations. We'll have more conversations internally. We'll have more conversations with Ben. Obviously we'll have to know what the cap number is at some point to finalize some of those decisions."

Like I said, they could be just using the money as an excuse because they're ready to move on and, since they also have other players entering the end of their contracts or appear to be leaving this offseason, they realize that they need to start rebuilding and starting over fresh:

Quote:Shorty after Rooney's quotes went public, Roethlisberger told The Athletic's Ed Bouchette that he would be willing to do whatever it takes from a contract standpoint in order to return in 2021.

"I want to do everything I can," Roethlisberger said, "and made that very clear to them from the very beginning that it was my idea to basically help the team however I can this year."

While Roethlisberger's contract is a legitimate concern, the elephant in the room is whether or not the Steelers are using Roethlisberger's contract as an excuse to part ways with the soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback. While his 2020 season started successfully as the Steelers went 11-0, Roethlisberger's play faded during the final six games of the season. After throwing just four interceptions in Pittsburgh's first 10 games, Roethlisberger threw 10 interceptions during his final seven starts. His four interceptions largely contributed to the Steelers' wild-card playoff loss to the Browns.

Roethlisberger's regression was not entirely his fault. His receivers dropped a significant amount of passes during Pittsburgh's three-game losing streak following its 11-0 start. The Steelers' rushing attack failed to complement Roethlisberger and the passing attack, as Pittsburgh finished 32nd in rushing last season. Roethlisberger also played with an often predicable game plan that contributed to Randy Fichtner's contract not being renewed by the Steelers this offseason.

While Roethlisberger's overall body of work last season suggests that he can still play at a high level, his age, salary and the current state of the Steelers may result in the Steelers moving in a different direction at quarterback. The Steelers will go through somewhat of a transitional period in 2021. Maurkice Pouncey recently retired, and the team will likely lose other prevalent players like Alejandro Villanueva, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Bud Dupree, among others.

I asked if Ben was done in another thread but this all seems pretty definitive that, at the very least, he's done in Pittsburgh.

Are Steelers fans ok with moving on?

Aside from football, do you have any emotional investment in him playing in Pittsburgh?