More details were released on Thursday afternoon, shortly after it was announced that the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger had agreed to a new contract.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Roethlisberger’s salary is divided as follows: a minimum base salary for veteran of $ 1.075 million in 2021, with a signing bonus of $ 12.925 million. The team added four annulable years to spread the limit.
Technically, we are looking for a new four-year contract for Big Ben. But in reality, the contract is for one year, since everything will be canceled after the 2021 season. Before the new contract, Roethlisberger was set to earn $ 19 million in 2021 ($ 4 million salary and $ 15 million bonus On duty). Essentially, Steelers tore up what was the last year of his contract and changed the amount to where he will now earn $ 14 million ($ 1,075 salary, $ 12.92 signing bonus).
The main conclusion is how the contract structure saves Pittsburgh $ 15 million in 2021 and leaves 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 expire in 2022 (TJ Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Joe Haden, et al.).