PITTSBURGH – Ben Roethlisberger is expected to meet with the Pittsburgh Steelers next week to discuss his future and his contract, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The two sides decided they needed separate time after the season before meeting to discuss next steps, the sources said.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II made it clear in his annual report at the Steelers press conference that Roethlisberger could not return with his $ 41.2 million success in the 2021 season, the last year of his contract.
“I think we were frank with Ben in informing him that we couldn’t get him back in the current contract,” said Rooney last week. “I think he understands that we have work to do there. We will have more conversations internally and more conversations with Ben, and we will have to know what the limit is to finalize some of those decisions.”
The quarterback understands the situation and is willing to provide much-needed relief, sources told Fowler on Saturday.
“I want to do everything I can and I made it very clear to them from the start that it was my idea to basically help the team as much as I can this year,” Roethlisberger told The Athletic on 28 January.
Steelers can save about $ 14 million in 2021 cap space if they convert most of their base salary and on-call bonuses into a subscription bonus, although they carry that money over to future years.
Although the Steelers need to determine Roethlisberger’s future, they also have to discuss the future of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who will take a free action in March, and center pivot Maurkice Pouncey, who is considering retiring.