Tag: Ben Roethlisberger contract

Breakdown of Ben Roethlisberger’s new contract

More details were released shortly after the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger agreed on a new contract.

More details were released Thursday afternoon, shortly after it was announced that the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger agreed on a new contract.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Roethlisberger’s salary breaks down to this: A veteran minimum base salary of $1.075 million in 2021, with a $12.925 million signing bonus. The cap hit can be spread out over four seasons.

Technically, we’re looking at a new four-year deal for Big Ben. But in reality, the contract is for one year, as it all voids after the 2021 season. Before the new contract, Roethlisberger was initially set to make $19 million in 2021 ($4 million salary and $15 million roster bonus). Essentially, the Steelers discarded what was the final year of his contract and changed the value to where he’ll now earn $14 million ($1.075 salary, $12.92 signing bonus).

The main takeaway is how the contract’s structure saves Pittsburgh $15 million in 2021 and takes the team $3.6 million below the estimated $185 salary cap, according to OverTheCap.com.

Now comes the hard part: What to do with priority free agents (JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bud Dupree, et al.) and players whose contracts are expiring in 2022 (T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Joe Haden, et al.).

[vertical-gallery id=486326]

[lawrence-related id=487375]

3 takeaways from Ben Roethlisberger’s new contract

Whether you wanted him back or not, we all knew it was coming — it was just a matter of when and at what salary.

Well, Ben’s back. I don’t know that it was ever much of a question despite the riddles from Steelers president Art Rooney and general manager Kevin Colbert on the topic.

Whether you wanted him back or not, we all knew it was coming — it was just a matter of when and at what salary.

Now that we know, here are three takeaways from Roethlisberger’s new deal.

Art Rooney II releases statement regarding Ben Roethlisberger

Art Rooney II’s statement on his meeting with Ben Roethlisberger reiterated what Steelers fans were fairly certain of.

There were more questions than answers after Tuesday’s “went well” comment from Ben Roethlisberger. But some of those questions were addressed via a statement from Steelers President Art Rooney II.

Rooney released a statement today to say what Steelers fans already knew: The Steelers want Ben back, Ben wants to come back, and the contract needs to be worked out.

Steelers Director of Communications, Burt Lauten, posted the statement on Twitter:

Ben Roethlisberger and I met yesterday morning and we had a productive meeting. We were able to discuss a lot of things that relate to where we are and where we want to go. Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship.

We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation.

Again, nothing new here. Rooney essentially just reiterated what we had a feeling was true.

[lawrence-related id=487133]

Roethlisberger’s agent, Ryan Tollner, released a statement of his own Monday night (it made me wonder whether Rooney would’ve publicly addressed the situation if Tollner hadn’t first). The news was good or bad depending on what side you’re on of the Should-Big-Ben-return fence.

I’ve been riding that fence since General Manager Kevin Colbert seemed wishy-washy about whether the Steelers truly wanted Ben back. One side of me says, Rip the bandaid off now. See what you have in Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins since they’re both free agents after this upcoming season.

The other part of me is relieved that Roethlisberger is coming back. A certain comfort comes with familiarity. His season ended on an embarrassing note — a loss to a team that he’s owned all of his career. Not to mention the implosion that was the second half of their season. Big Ben is a future Hall of Famer who’s taken this franchise to three Super Bowls. At the very least, he deserves the chance to right those wrongs before he rides off into the sunset.

I also think it’s a good move that Rooney publicly stated that they’re behind Roethlisberger. After the contract is hammered out, they can move forward into the offseason knowing who the quarterback will be.

[vertical-gallery id=486326]

REPORT: Ben Roethlisberger met with Pittsburgh Steelers brass on Tuesday

The first of what I’m sure will be many meetings happened on Tuesday between Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers president Art Rooney II. 

The first of what I’m sure will be many meetings happened on Tuesday between Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers president Art Rooney II.

Per a source of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, that meeting “went well”.

Vague, of course, as most of these talks are. Likely, we won’t know anything concrete until it comes straight from the horse’s mouth.

The two sides have until mid-March to hammer out a new deal, in whatever form that may be. Roethlisberger is due a $15 million roster bonus on March 15.

[vertical-gallery id=485619]

[lawrence-related id=487118]

‘Very, very strong feeling’ in Pittsburgh that it’s time to move forward without Big Ben

Contract talks that were expected to start between Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger earlier this month haven’t begun.

Ben Roethlisberger has said everything he needs to say — that he wants to return to the Steelers and that he’s willing to do it for less money.

Roethlisberger and the Steelers were expected to meet during the second week in February for contract negotiations. Two weeks have come and gone, and according to NFL Network’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, the two sides have yet to meet.

“Nothing has changed since Kevin Colbert was so lukewarm a week ago,” said Kinkhabwala on NFL Network Monday. “This is essentially turning into a really big game of chicken in Pittsburgh where the Steelers are almost daring Ben Roethlisberger to say something back.”

“The Steelers are not in consensus on what to do; from what I’ve been told, there’s a very, very strong feeling in that building that it is time to move forward.”

Steelers president Art Rooney has made it clear that the club simply cannot bring him back at the league-high cap hit of $41 million.

Roethlisberger’s release carries a dead money hit of $22.25 million — $3.25 million more than what remains on his contract before negotiations.

[vertical-gallery id=486803]

[lawrence-related id=486256]