After a deliberate climb to the top of the NFL standings, the Steelers experienced an abrupt drop to end their season. Likewise, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was in good shape for almost three months before showing his age in the extended race.
So was last week’s wild card defeat the last we’ll see from the future Hall of Fame? Probably not.
There is optimism within the organization that Big Ben will be back in 2021, said Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network on Saturday. Coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week that a return from Roethlisberger is welcome. This would involve a new offensive coordinator, as the team has already separated from longtime assistant Randy Fichtner.
Part of the ongoing discussion is likely to involve Roethlisberger’s contract. He is in the books for another year with $ 19 million, which is hardly costly. But its limit reached $ 41 million. Seventeen years after they were married, Big Ben and the Steelers should have no problem in alleviating that number, Garafolo noted.
A restructuring would help the team retain some of its impending free agents. Through Garafolo, Roethlisberger has already announced that if he returns, he also wants the wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on board.
The two faced each other a week ago in Pittsburgh’s defeat by the Browns. Smith-Schuster recorded season records for 13 receptions and 157 yards. Big Ben’s 47 submissions, 501 yards, 4 touchdowns were also his top marks in the 2020 campaign. But they were also his four interceptions. They capped the 38-year-old’s late-season pass out.
After launching 22 TDs for just 4 INTs in the first nine games of the season, made even more impressive by the fact that he lost almost all of 2019 with an elbow injury, his proportion has dropped to 15-10 in the last eight. Their fights, of course, coincided almost entirely with the Steelers, who started 11-0 before losing five of their final six games.
This is not how they want to leave. It would be a surprise if it were so for Roethlisberger.