Ben
Roethlisberger will be entering the final season of his
contract in 2019, but it appears the Steelers quarterback may be sticking
around for longer than that.
According to sources the Steelers and Roethlisberger are
expected to “restructure and extend” the quarterback’s deal prior to the
beginning of the league year on March 13.
In recent years, there have been whispers that
Roethlisberger was considering retirement, although the veteran has hinted he’s
open to playing beyond his current contract. The Steelers did use a third-round
pick last year on Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph,
but that wouldn’t necessarily prevent Roethlisberger from playing another
handful of seasons. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes that
team president Art Rooney II previously said he’d like to ink Roethlisberger to
one more contract.
Despite being 36, the veteran quarterback set career-highs
in completions (452), pass attempts (675), passing yards (5,129), and
touchdowns (34) this season. Roethlisberger has taken an absolute beating
throughout his career, and his 24 sacks in 2018 was his highest total since
2014. Still, the signal-caller managed to play in all 16 games for the first
time since (of course) 2014.
Roethlisberger signed an extension with Pittsburgh in 2015,
and he’s set to have a cap charges of $23.2M. As Schefter notes, an extension
could open up some extra cap space for the Steelers, perhaps making an Antonio Brown trade
more tolerable.
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