“They want Ben back and will contact me soon to resolve the cap situation. As we’ve shared since the end of the season, we’re happy to creatively adjust their contract to help them form the best team possible.
That quote, courtesy of Steelers informant and NFL Network reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala, was from Ryan Tollner, Ben Roethlisberger’s agent, who seemed to provide the final evidence earlier in the week that the veteran quarterback will indeed return in 2021.
Difficult break.
Like you, I know I was ready to move from Roethlisberger and his 33 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in 2020. I wanted the clock to start in the Steelers’ future right away. We are talking about a cap room, a possible exchange for someone like Marcus Mariota and the rehiring of Bud Dupree, a player now in therapy because of the feelings of love / hate from the fans since he was summoned in 2015. “First they loved me, then they hated me, now they love me again? I want to sign with Jacksonville where the fans don’t notice professional football players at all. ”
I expected 2021 to be a year of transition, in which we would find out about Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins and I mention Martiota, right? Best case scenario: the winner of that quarterback competition would certainly have suffered so much that Pittsburgh may have ended up with a draft choice high enough that we could all have started our 2022 draft on Halloween.
And most of those simulated drafts would undoubtedly have made the Steelers select who will be Trevor Lawrence next spring.
Damn, forget next year’s quarterback crop, if we found out that Roethlisberger wouldn’t be back in 2021, legitimate recruitment drops may have grown for potential candidates in this year’s class. “In my last simulation sketch, the Steelers switched to get their new edition Ben: The Trevor Lawrence.”
Oh well. I think we’ll have to settle for a team with a quarterback who can really allow us to compete in 2021, a future Hall of Fame that will now have a normal off-season to prepare without worrying about whether his surgically repaired elbow will fail or not. any second.
Steelers will now have to focus their free agent resources on players to place around Roethlisberger, as line attackers, for example. They will have to use their first shift choice in two years in a different quarterback position, maybe even a cornerback – nooooooooo !!!!!!
But do not fear, because there is still hope. Like Art Rooney’s statement and Kevin Colbert’s statement, Tollner offered nothing official, nothing concrete. He just reiterated what two Roethlisberger chiefs had already said. They want Big Ben back, but not with the same money. They may still not be able to work things out in the end.
Also, as far as we know, Rooney or Colbert may be the person within the Steelers organization who doesn’t want Roethlisberger back. Maybe it’s Mike Tomlin, who has a lot of influence. Better yet, it could be TJ Watt, a Watt brother, who doesn’t want Roethlisberger to return.
In short, if someone with influence within the Steelers organization offers enough resilience, the Roethlisberger era in Pittsburgh may be over soon, after all.
Don’t throw out those newly printed “Got Six Wins?” t-shirts, yet.
Relax and continue to BENLEAVE !!!!