Both Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh team are clear that the current impact on the $ 41.2 million salary cap would make it impossible to retain it for the upcoming season.
PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger you want to go back to Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2021 season, and is willing to do “everything” he can to help the team despite its massive impact against the 2021 salary cap.
With an expected drop in the salary cap for the coming year due to lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic, the blow to the wage impact of Roethlisberger of $ 41.2 million for next season is impossible, an issue that the quarterback and president and CEO, Art Rooney II, They seem to agree.
“I want to do everything I can and I made that very clear from the start, that my idea was basically to help the team in any way I could this year,” he said. Roethlisberger at L’Athletic.
“Ben he wants to come back, ”he said Rooney Thursday afternoon on their conference call via Season Closing Zoom. “We have left this door open.
“I think we have been frank with Ben by letting him know that we couldn’t have him back under his current contract. I think he understands that we have some work to do here. We will have more conversations internally, and we will have more conversations with Ben, And we tend to know what that final salary cap number is to finalize some of those decisions. “
Roethlisberger he added that “I don’t care about my pay this year, for nothing!”.
After a defeat at the Ronda de Comodins in front of the Cleveland Browns, RoethlisbergerThe 38-year-old said he would talk at length with his family before making any concrete decisions regarding returning for 2021, but said he hoped the Steelers they would want him back if that’s what he decided to do. They will donate Rooney and the team a chance to write their own final after a legendary career?
“With Ben“We need to have a conversation with him about how he wants to end his career, and we want to have it.”
To get relief under the salary cap and give it to Roethlisberger at least one more season for it to end under its own terms, the Steelers they could ask the quarterback to accept a pay cut in the final year of his contract. the Steelers they have already prorated $ 22,250,000 from their contract, leaving only $ 19 million – $ 4 million in base salary and a $ 15 million staff bonus – with which they can work to cut or restructure. The most likely option is an extension and restructuring that will handle some of this impact in the 2022 season.
“I think these are discussions we will have with Ben and their representatives, ”he said Rooney of the possibilities of modifying the contract of Roethlisberger. “It takes two to decipher that, and if we can agree on what you want, we’ll just have to see.”
How are things now, the Steelers they have three quarterbacks on the roster for the 2015 campaign: Roethlisberger, Mason Rudolph and the recently signed Dwayne Haskins Jr.. But, Rooney admitted that they need to add another pin, potentially placing them in the tender for one of the big names that are expected to be available, if they can properly set the issue of the salary cap.
“I think when you look at our group, we’re going to add someone to this unit during the off-season,” he said. Rooney. “We’re going to explore every opportunity, we have to do that.”
Determine the future of Roethlisberger it is just the first step in many difficult decisions for the Steelers in the campaign recess.
The year-on-year contract of the general manager Kevin Colbert will end after the draft, and while Rooney he noted that both have had many discussions regarding the future of Colbert, Nothing is official.
“I feel that Kevin he’s going to come back, but no one knows, ”he expressed Rooney.
The contract of the head coach Mike Tomlin run until at least the 2021 season with an option for the 2022 campaign, and evaluate him to his head coach, Rooney said to believe that Tomlin will lead the team in the future.
“We will deal with the contract of Mike with him as time progresses in the low season, “he said.” I will just say that I feel comfortable saying he will be our coach in the future. … In terms of the work he did, we didn’t end up the way we wanted to. The playoff game, it’s hard to analyze … just deliver the ball that way, you’re not going to win too many games. I don’t know how this is attributed to coach preparation. I think the team came into this match ready. “
Rooney he also said that if it depended on him, he would come to the 2021 campaign with the same staff he had in 2020.
“If I had my way, and I said I could have the same staff we had last year, I would,” he expressed. “Obviously, that’s not the case.”
With the team’s salary cap – it is estimated that the Steelers are above the $ 30 million cap with 48 players signed, according to the ESPN List Management System– re-hire free agents like Bud Dupree i JuJu Smith-Schuster it will be difficult, if not nearly impossible.
“It’s worth saying that it will be the most difficult salary cap challenge we’ve had in a long time, maybe ever,” he said. Rooney.
But the first step before deciphering the rest of the staff will be to determine the future of Roethlisberger.
When asked directly if he wants me back Roethlisberger, Rooney paused, and then said yes he wanted it back, but offered no guarantees regarding the quarterback’s future.
“I think we would like to see Ben return another year if it can work, “he stressed.” But, as we have said, we need many things to happen for this to happen; there might have to be decisions by both parties for it to happen. “