What do you expect from Big Ben?

That was 36 years ago, so medical science has progressed a bit. Also, just because the injuries happened to the same part of the body doesn't mean they are comparable. What happened to Bradshaw isn't really relevant.

 

I’m not saying you didn’t but where did you read the exact extent of Ben’s injury? Never mind comparing it to Bradshaw. Like I said it was reported no TJ surgery. I realize all elbow surgeries are serious but as far as I know there isn’t any definitive prognosis as to what actually happened.

 

Trust me Scribe, I have a freezer full of crow that I'll be delighted to digest if BB picks up next season where he left off last season. Unfortunately we'll never know how this season would have panned out had he not been injured. His age, unknown rehab bounce-back from this type of injury, and "history of slow starts" will certainly weigh heavily on the Steelers' success (or not) next year. We all knew life without BB was going to happen at some point (and sooner than later) and this is an excellent opportunity to see if his ultimate replacement is currently wearing a Steelers Jersey. While I don't have great expectations for this year, I'm terribly excited to see what this team can do with MR under center.

 

Ben has been in decline for a least 2 yrs and it has been disguised by 2 factors:

- He threw a ton more passes than the rest of the league "Look at his total yd and TD numbers,wow!"
- Passing numbers have increased league wide over his career, his 96 passer rating in 2008 was in the top 5 in the league, in 2018 it was 10-15th.

Somehow I don't see this getting better after surgery, however sucess full, and being a year older.

Ben will be the default starter going into 2020. But as we've seem with Eli Manning and other,he may struggle to stay there. I never Ben as a guy who could play at 40. I still don't.

 

I don't believe Ben will come back the same player after this injury. I expect Ben to keep cashing those checks regardless if he can play or not. Unfortunate timing for Ben and the organization.

 

If he really can’t play they have to let him go, respectfully, let him ‘retire’ due to injury or whatever way they want to dress it up. Too much money involved not to.

Getting him off the roster saves nearly $40m in cap over 2020/21. You’d put some nice pieces around Rudolph for that and extend some of the young guys. Add a few more cuts and all of a sudden they have a good young defence and you’ve gone some way to fixing the offence. They could turn things around very quickly.

If Ben comes back and sucks it is simply not an option to let him stay collecting his cheques for sentimental reasons

 

Yeah I don’t see the part where it has to be unfortunate for the organization. There will be options....

 

Absolutely. TBH I’m not convinced that what I laid out above is not the best option. If Ben was not a franchise legend the decision would be easy but he has earned the right to come back.

I think I worked out at one stage that there is another $20m - $30m in relatively easy cuts outside of Ben, guys like Barron, Moncrief, Chick etc. They have issues to fix at WR, RB, LT, RT, ROLB etc. Hard to do that without any draft capital or cap space. Ben is very very expensive to keep if he is not performing.

His playing days are nearing an end either way, it would be great if he stayed in some capacity. I loved seeing him on the sidelines Monday giving Rudolph encouragement and mentoring.

 

Nexy year Ben will probably be with the team. He probably won't be 100% when the season starts. Ben will have made a truck load of money for doing little to nothing for two seasons.

Lets say Mason improves as time goes by.
How will Ben react if they tell him Mason will be the starter next season?

They will probably let Ben go in the last year of his deal regardless of what happens.

It's a shame how much money the organiazation loss with Brown and now with Ben. Circumstances can change quickly in the NFL.

 

Yes I’d be surprised if he plays out that last year. He is not Tom Brady.

Steelers currently have nearly $70m tied up between dead cap and IR, you simply cannot be competitive until that’s cleaned up. Actually, that must be some sort of record.

 

Should of tagged him....

 

I can't remember, was he under contract through 2019 before the extension?

 

Yes 2 year extension on top of 2019 ,taking his deal to 2021. 3 more years in total.

 

So they didn't have do anything this season, tag or extend.

 

I for one have already gone on record stating that Ben will return fine. I am no doctor just my opinion. He is what? 38. Okay I get it. The injury is significant. The fact alone that it is season-ending is significant. However, it does not mean career-ending. We will have to see how this plays out. Meanwhile, Mason, and Hodges for that matter, are getting invaluable playing time if we are looking for a silver-lining. I for one have a gut feeling that Mason is going to be just fine. Some folks around here are jumping on his case after just four, count them now, just four starts.

He was good in college, that counts for something in my book. He will continue to get better as he continues to get comfortable. Comfortable is the key word here. Ben had an awesome support cast in place; both on O and D. The O that Mason has been given is basically starting off with Mason. Ben had a seasoned O and a great D to boot. I think some people around here are looking for Ben type results from Mason but are forgetting about all of the key pieces that Ben had to work with. Ben really landed as a starter into a very ideal situation when one thinks about it which once again I believe lead to a higher level of comfort for him versus that of Mason. STEELWINDS

 

I don’t believe so

 

He is under contract for this season, 2020 & 2021. After this season his cap number goes up north of $33m which I think is the highest in the league, it’s above Brady, Rogers and Wilson anyway.

I hope he returns and plays like the old Ben but quite honestly I don’t envisage a situation where he plays up to that number for two seasons.

 

I understand his contract situation now. I'm wondering why, if he was already under contract for 2019, did they feel an intense need to extend him a year early instead of letting things play out for this season. It wasn't that long ago he was talking (in public) about retirement...

 

Roethlisberger had Duce Staley, Jerome Bettis, Jeff Hartings, Alan Faneca, Marvel Smith, Plaxico Burress, Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El.... along with the Super Bowl caliber- Big Nasty D.

Rudolph has James Conner, Jaylen Samuels, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Vance McDonald, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Diontae Johnson... along with an emerging D that could be great.

Who had the better deal? I think it's obvious. Rudolph is doing fine considering the circumstances.

 

Rooneys not that cutthroat. I agree but they dance to their own drummer.

 

Lot of youth (undetermined value) with Rudolph. Not so obvious to me yet. Hindsight helps your statement.


Edit: Duce Staley? Reaching a bit there.

 

You would want Ben to a workout warrior, but I don't know anymore... Watt and Tuitt with those peck injuries sounds like TOO MUCH weight training? I don't remember those type of injuries ever happening in prior decades?

 

Why is that cutthroat?

 

Duce Staley was a very productive RB for the Steelers in the first half of '04 season. Short memories.