I AM AFRAID THERE IS NO QUICK FIX FOR THIS MESS!

I was nieve/homer to think the Steelers could just reload, but after seeing the talent that has
been drafted the last 5 years and our salary cap problems. I am afraid this could take some time.
So the big question mark has to be Ben R.Do you pay him what he will be wanting or do you try to trade him to improve your overall team? Should be interesting off season.I certainly hope the Rooney's are prepared to step out of the box this off season.

 

You think its tough now
trade Big Ben and youll really see tough

 

I've been waiting for you.........Welcome Aboard!

 

How do you see us plugging the VAST holes in our roster without extra picks? Or how do we improve our team around Ben when you are paying him a very high salary to go 6 and 10 with the talent he has to work with.Lets face it,how many games has he won this year by
his elite talent? has he improved our win total.Pray the salary cap
is raised significantly.

 

The Rooney's biggest question to themselves likely is ...
Do we have the people in place that are capable of doing this rebuild, and that can do it in a timely manner so that we can get some useful years out of Ben if we do extend him?

At the moment, based that the Rooneys have been wanting to get the running game going again for the past 2 years with negative results so far, lets's just say they must have some "reasonable doubts".

 

So if you trade Ben for picks which aren't going to be very high, you'll need to use those picks to replace him. Even if you find a team to trade with there's no way they are picking up his whole salary. So youre still going to have a cap hit for him. Like it or not we are stuck with Ben for now.

 

The chances of trading Ben R. is very very low. First - you aren't going to get much for him unless it is a team that thinks the addition of him can make them a SB contender now. I can't think of a team that falls into that category - the closest I can come up w/is the Houston Texans who have been pretty good the past few years and has had sub par QB'ing at times, and now they appear to be a mess.

So then it becomes an issue of whether you simply choose to not extend Ben which is a very tricky proposition, because by the time you extend him, your hope is the talent will be coming around some. The biggest mistake management (Tomlin, Colbert, ... maybe even LeBeau because I believe he had some influence in having to keep his "guys" around as long as possible) made was the day they signed Ben as a franchise QB was the day they needed to re-think how they were going to structure the team in the future and they chose not to do that. The Saints, Pats, Packers have been playing this game all along. The Ravens started playing it immediately in the off season when they decided to anoint Flacco as a franchise QB (good luck w/that Ozzie). The Steelers have never adapted and it is killing them at this point in time.

 

DC steel, that was the first team I thought of too. Houston. then I think Chicago. Arizona. Miami. TB. Jacksonville. and dare I say, Cleveland. some revamping could be done with a couple of 1st round picks. sure i'd hate to get rid of ben, but ben can't do it alone, contrary to popular belief.

can we rebuild around him enough by the time he's 34-35. really? how much farther can we fall? we are 2-6 with him at 31. go back to last year and we are even worse. how can people say we will drop farther? we are in the basement now.

 

Chicago? What about Cutler?

I've got mixed feelings on trading Ben. On the one hand, I would like to see the Rooneys step out of the box and do something out of the ordinary to try to set this team up for future success. On the other hand, if Ben can stay healthy the next few years and we can put players around him, I think he gives us our best chance for success in the shorter term. I remember well the quarter century between Bradshaw and Ben and don't want to go back there. I hope when and if the trigger is pulled and we decide to let Ben go, we have our next franchise quarterback already in place or in mind.

 

in theory the team that should be more interested in ben could be the browns , they have a good team but lack qb ben is from ohio and they have 2 first round picks ...

 

I just don't think, if we do trade him, that we'll trade him within the division. That could backfire on us.

 

I know all about the time in between bardshaw and ben, but it doesn't mean it will have to be that way again. we found out we can get to the SB with a decent qb like we did with O'Donnell. we had a coach that didn't put a lot of stock into the qb position between that time. left up to him and ben wouldn't even have been here.

 

Just a thought, but if we keep Ben for another couple of years. You might have Jameis Winston of Florida State and/or Christian Hackenburg of Penn State available in the draft.

Winston has been unreal and Hackenberg is doing quite well in a pro-set type offense at Penn State. I think you are going to see some credible QB's come out of Penn State with the type of system that Bill O'Brien runs.

 

I think we ought to draft Bill O'Brien to be our Head Coach. Can we do that?

 

i'm a big carr fan out of this group coming out this year. the kid can play the position and he is slowly moving up the boards. the kid can run too if he has to. there are a lot of good qb's in this draft. just because we take one doesn't mean we have to give up on ben yet either. it means we will be better prepared and give ourselves options. remember ben doesn't play full seasons, so we can have these guys learning our new offense, from our new OC in the meantime.

 

I am torn on the prospect of trading him. But if they do I would love to see Mariotta from Oregon be our next QB. That kid is a QB with running back skills. Not the other way around. Plus he is bigger than Johnny Football etc. Otherwise if you don't get Mariotta this year then go after Jameis Winston next year. Maybe you keep Ben one more year to see what this next draft class brings in and if the free fall continues you trade him to get into the Jameis Winston sweepstakes.

The NFL is changing and I am interested to see how the Steelers adapt.

 

Wow! Is this what the conversations were like in Pittsburgh in Bradshaw's last years? No wonder he didn't want to go back after he retired. As fans, we waited decades to get another franchise QB and now the fantasy football generation wants to trade him? I know, lets trade Ben and get some O linemen that can block!!!!!!! Oh, wait, who would they block for?

 

Ben turned the ball over 3 times in the last game, a strip fumble and two picks, if that's the kind of production we get with a 10 year pro, we might as well go for a franchise QB in this next draft that's supposed to be a QB heavy draft and we will be picking high, so, with this opportunity we wont get a better chance to get a franchise QB this cheap, with the rook salary cap and four year contract freeze we wont get this chance again to free up cap space, we are in a re-build and we might as well admit it and make the moves we need to rebuild this team..........

 

Our OL could only get better next year with Pouncey and Decastro. Injuries have killed this OL all season with injury after injury. Bell is showing promise and Ben is clearly untouchable. Get a tall, lanky tough WR and another decent OT and will score 30 points a game if healthy.

This is team is old and young mixed with talent and injuries that I won't rule them out just yet. I'm not ready for a rebuild just yet especially when we'll win the next 7 out of 8 anyway...

 

if someone would have covered the TE from SD at the end of that game we would have been to two with an average qb. we were the better team.

you and I both know that with the defense we had and the line we had and the RB's we had under cowher, most any other head coach would have had more than bill did. we were not there for 10 years because of our hard headed coach and his dislike for the qb position.

we've seen as of late that JUST a franchise QB in the twilight of his career is not enough to overcome our deficiencies. we haven't won one since 2007, so we are halfway to that 10 year mark. with ben. we have just touched the playoffs once in what will be 3 years with ben here. he can't do it all and he has all the money.

they have to consider both sides of what is about to happen around here. we all can see this is not steeler ball right now. something has to happen. pick your poison.

as is said most guys don't see all of their contract money. ben has seen more than anyone his. brady took less for the team twice. peyton was flexible with his a time or two for the good of the team. maybe ben will play with a pay cut? who knows?

i'd have to listen to offers out there IF there were any and where we may be sitting in this draft. all i'm saying is we need to keep the options open. we have a defense to rebuild and an offense to add to before ben can win again. how long do we take?

 

Their going to win 7 out of their next 8, put the Bong down son....

 

I'd be surprised if Ben didn't secretly ask for a trade himself..... to hook up with his ole buddy Bruce Arians in AZ. With the chance to throw the ball to Fitz (assuming he stays in AZ).

I'd say let's wait until the offseason and see where we actually finish up and our potential draft position. Is it a possibility? Yes, but I think it's a remote slim chance. We've not been bold enough to trade productive players with years left in the past, I'd be surprised if the FO went this direction, although it may have it's merits.