As things stand right now, Ben Roethlisberger is still a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The question is whether he’ll still be there once the season finally rolls around this fall. The Steelers could potentially move on from Roethlisberger this offseason, who has been their quarterback for 17 seasons.
Will they keep him? We don’t really know. But Steelers GM Kevin Colbert isn’t making any assurances at this point.
On Wednesday when speaking to the media, he was given every opportunity to say that the Steelers were committed to bringing Roethlisberger back for next season.
He didn’t say that at all. Instead, he just let everyone know that Ben was still a Steeler as of now.
#Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said they are not currently negotiating with Ben Roethlisberger, but says the QB has met with him, Coach Tomlin and Art Rooney II
"As we sit here today, Ben Roethlisberger is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers."
— Missi Matthews (@missi_matthews) February 17, 2021
He said that the veteran quarterback says he still wants to play, but the team only told him that they’d have to look at the situation at hand.
#Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says that in meetings w/ him, owner Art Rooney and coach Mike Tomlin, QB Ben Roethlisberger “reiterated… he wants to continue to play… We told him quite frankly, we have to look at this situation.”
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) February 17, 2021
With his $41.2 million cap hit for next year — compared to a dead cap hit of just $22 million if he’s cut — it doesn’t sound like Roethlisberger’s chances of returning are great at this point. He’d most certainly have to restructure his deal to spread the hit over multiple years if he does convince the Steelers to keep him around.
The Steelers will most likely try to get this resolved before the new league year — and free agency — begins on March 17.
