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If you’ve followed the Pittsburgh Steelers for any length of time, you realize very quickly once training camp opens, any contract negotiations are postponed until the off-season.
If you’re talking a player like perhaps Ike Taylor or Heath Miller, two important players (but not franchise ones), this can be understandable, especially in Miller’s case coming off injury.
However, to take this kind of stance with your franchise Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, is an entirely different proposition all together, as the Steelers have done today.
Taking with Bob Labriola of Steelers.com, Steelers President Art Rooney II had this to say:
“We also talked to Ryan (Tollner; Ben’s agent), just so that there was communication with him as well, so that they understood the direction in which we wanted to proceed. We wanted to make sure they were understanding that we do want to make a commitment, that we do want to address Ben’s contract next year. It’s not a situation where we’re saying we want to put it on hold. We did assure him that next year is the time frame in which we want to address it.”
It is not a stretch to say without him last year, despite starting 0-4, the Pittsburgh Steelers would have been sunk to the depths seen by the Houston Texans (2-14). However, as long as Ben is under center, you would be foolish to bet against them. In fact, had Ryan Succop converted what is a relatively routine field goal for NFL kickers (41 yards, in which kicks from 40-50 yards were converted by all qualifying kickers were made 83% of the time) vs. the San Diego Chargers in Week 17, the Steelers and not the Chargers would have advanced to the playoffs. And the Steelers were not a team the AFC would have liked to have seen get in.
More importantly, franchises such as the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills are proof that if you have more than one starting QB you really have zero. Since 1999, these two franchises have combined for exactly one playoff appearance and no victories. Compare that to the multiple playoff appearances and two Super Bowl trophies for the Steelers under Roethlisberger’s tenure and you quickly see there’s nothing more vital to the success of an NFL franchise in today’s environment then the QB.
And while all professional athletes, including NFL players, give the usual platitudes about “I want to retire here” and “I love the organization”, there’s one other thing they love, and that’s MONEY.
This is not to say Ben hasn’t been PAID over the course of his time with the Steelers, but when you consider the money he’s made for the franchise, every single penny spent on Ben has been returned at least three-fold. The waiting list for Steelers season tickets is every bit as long as teams like the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, who have been Super Bowl contenders and winners over the same tenure as the Steelers.
Sometimes, the “Steeler Way” isn’t the best way. When it comes to their franchise QB, this is a very short-sighted and potentially fatal decision. What if a team steps up and offers him a very front loaded contract, with a huge signing bonus, one that the salary cap strapped Steelers (right now they have around $5M) could not match?
That would leave the Steelers with Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones at QB. Want to take a guess how many games they would win? The Steelers would jump on the escalator right down to the basement of the AFC.
In the end, yes, it’s a business and the likely scenario is that after the 2014-2015 season is over, one final extension is worked out that both Ben and the Steelers can live with.
However, nervous Steeler fans can only wait and hope that they aren’t wishing they had been the ones to draft Johnny Manziel and not the Browns, and that they aren’t all of a sudden peering up at them in the standings in the coming years, should Ben decide to seek “greener” pastures.
Joe Cummings is a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on twitter or Facebook.