The Steelers have a problem on their hands. Ben Roethlisberger’s skillset has clearly declined to the point where he’s not able to perform like an elite quarterback, despite being paid like one.
Roethlisberger looked like a 38-year old quarterback closing the door on a lengthy career during the Steelers’ 26-15 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills during Week 14. Roethlisberger was harmed by a few drops, again, but he also doesn’t seem to have it in him to carry the offense on his back.
The Steelers have had to change how they play offense to accommodate the current version of Roethlisberger. They’re still airing it out and living in empty formations, but they’re not taking as many chances down the field as they used to. According to Pro Football Reference, Roethlisberger is averaging just 6.8 intended air yards per attempt, ranking 29th in the league. Roethlisberger is also averaging just 6.3 yards per attempt, ranking 31st among the 35 quarterbacks that have thrown at least 184 pass attempts this season.
For a quarterback that’s averaging $34 million per year in terms of total money, that production isn’t good enough. Even though the Steelers very much control their destiny at 11-2 and are one of the top teams in the AFC, everyone with a basic level of football knowledge knows they’re going to need more from their offense. That doesn’t just apply to this season, but to seasons beyond this one as they try to maximize their window of having an elite defense.
Luckily for the Steelers, there is a relatively easy way out for them if they’re just looking at Roethlisberger’s contract in a vacuum. If Roethlisberger doesn’t retire after the season, The Steelers can cut him for a $22.3 million dead cap charge and $19 million in cap savings. That would leave them at a net loss of roughly three million dollars for cutting Roethlisberger.
In a normal cap year, cutting Roethlisberger at the end of this season would likely be a fine financial move. However, with the cap likely to be hovering around just $175 million for the 2021 season, teams are working with less money than they usually have. Pittsburgh is projected to be $20 million over the 2021 cap, which means that cutting Roethlisberger wouldn’t do much for them besides leave them with a massive hole at quarterback.
No matter whether they cut, trade, or have Roethlisberger retire, the Steelers will be stuck with the same financial ramifications since 2021 is the final year of Roethlisberger’s contract. $22.3 million in dead cap, $19 million in cap savings. Roethlisberger’s dead cap would have only been $12.5 million if they didn’t restructure his contract in March, but they did.
This leaves the Steelers with a question to ask themselves as they enter the 2021 offseason: what’s next at quarterback? Next year very well could be the final year of Roethlisberger’s career and with the defense stuffed to the brim with talent, they need to continue to find quality quarterback play to maximize their peak years on defense.
Their best plan of action is to find a young quarterback to sit behind Roethlisberger for a year before taking over in 2022. There have been some rumblings about the Steelers being interested in trading for Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who is clearly on his way out of New York after the season with the Jets crashing towards 0-16. Pittsburgh could also be aggressive in the draft and trade up for a quarterback if someone like Trey Lance or Zach Wilson starts to slip down the board.
Pittsburgh needs to do something to secure a long term quarterback. Roethlisberger’s performance against the Bills, and this season in general, showed that the clock is really ticking.
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