Getty Images
The Steelers made it clear that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not return with his current contract, but owner Art Rooney II insists that this is only a reflection of the salary cap, not how Roethlisberger is playing.
Rooney said the Steelers still believe Roethlisberger is a quarterback of the caliber of the Super Bowl.
“We think Ben played at a high level last year,” Rooney told Steelers.com. “We won our division and set a franchise record for the most consecutive wins at the opening of a season, so there was a lot of good. Ben was as disappointed as anyone at the way it ended. That last game is just hard to swallow and I think that in part Ben wants to go back and leave on a high note. We are still confident that he has the capacity to do that. His arm, I would say, is as strong or almost as strong as ever, so I think he is certainly capable of doing the job. Part of the concern is to place a [competitive] team around him, and we had a good discussion about it. We know that there are still many pieces of the puzzle that still need to fit together this season and we are working hard to make that happen. ”
Roethlisberger and Rooney expressed confidence that they can reach a new contract. Still, Rooney acknowledged that the Steelers will not enter the 2021 league year with Roethlisberger in his current contract. This means that if a deal cannot be reached before the start of the league year, Roethlisberger will be released.
“We hope we can resolve something before that,” said Rooney, “but certainly if you want to say that there is a difficult deadline, March 17th would be the best.”
At this point, all parties are indicating that a deal will be closed. But the March 17 deadline is approaching.