Wow the rooneys and Ben have talked contract

Just read on Steelers.com that Art approached Ben before the Pouncey signing just to let Ben know their plan was to sign him next year. He told his agent that as well. He said in the interview that Ben wants to win championships and understands that he has to have good players to do that. I said wow because it's not like the Rooneys to do that. He went on to say the cap next year should give them room for a franchise quarterback contract.

 

I think Ben is going to give them a fair deal. I'm not going to say team friendly because no franchise QB contract is team friendly.

 

Goodell just handed down a two game suspension for the Rooney's first offense of talking contracts to it's players and having the fans hear about it.

 

he'll get done next year. he wants to get us back to the top and he knows it takes players.

 

if they beat a women they could get it reduced though. says it right in goodell's handbook.

 

goodell's backhandbook

 

anyone think it would be cheaper on us to do it this year or will it matter?

 

They don't have the salary cap space to get it done this year, either way the Rooney's will pay Ben a lot of money avg 16-20 million a year. That's the going rate for franchise QB.

 

Just HAD to add this.....

 

Ben is the redheaded stepchild of this organization.

 

Sure they do. His cap number would actually come down if he was extended.

 

Is there any indication that local media are spinning this as a slam by the front office against Ben or that Ben is taking it as a slight. I ask because I had a guy ask me at work if the news meant they were going to let him go next season. He seemed to think that the way the story was being reported that Ben was hoping to have a career year and force the team into paying him big money. After reading the thread most of the day I just wasn't getting that impression. Could just be some of the writers at NFL.com filing stories with little substance to generate page views

 

Yes but there is still a lot of questions as to what the cap is going to be next year. Its supposed to take another significant jump but let's say it doesn't then we could be screwed giving him a big deal now.

 

Extending Ben this offseason didn't have to negatively affect our cap this year or next. There is no salary cap reason for not extending Ben this offseason. They simply chose not to.

Like I said, Ben is Rooney's redheaded stepchild.

 

Not at all and the fact that tge Rooneys went to him and told him this tells me they have a lot of respect for him. They didn't need to tell him his deal would be next season and further more we have plwnty of cap space. Anyone cut from here on out won't be that expensive to bring in. Why not take the safe road and see how everything plays out. If they were strapped for cap space it would be one thong but they are not so I don't see what the big deal is.

 

The mind screw is strong in Pittsburgh. Telling a guy they won't extend his contract this offseason somehow becomes a sign of respect.

 

I don't see what the big deal in extending him this year. the cap hit difference would be minimal. ben isn't going anywhere for a minimum of 4 years if they did nothing.

why not let this one run out and get one done after that? slap the tag on him in year 3 and get a new deal done. we would have Woodley off the books and surely the cap would go up by then.

maybe bens game is starting to slip by then and they won't want to pay top dollar. he could be franchised two years in a row I believe. still paying him a lot of money and the rooney's not on the hook with a declining 36+ year old qb for 3 more years.

don't forget they have been burnt in the recent past by giving some guys big fat contract around this age. hanging on to aaron smith that last season. Harrison. ike. watching troy start to decline. clark. casey. max. farrior. just saying we or the rooney's know if ben can still be playing at this level for 7 more years. we could take a look in 4 and decide if nothing is done. and no I'm not trying to run ben out of town. yes he deserves to make good money and he does and would if they do this. it just seems like smart business.

 

It's very smart business ... because they know that Ben won't make an issue of it. Ben is a special kind of stupid. He should have immediately asked for a trade. In fact he should have asked for one years ago.

 

stupid how? ben has made more money out of a contract than any player. with two years left, he's still making a lot of money and if franchised for two years making the average of the top 5 qb's by then will be a lot more dough. that's worst case scenario.

 

With Ben in his 12th season next year, I don't think a long term contract can be worked out, a 7 or 8 year deal means Ben would have to play for 19-20 years to collect, and if he plays for 4 years and retires that means they would have 3 or 4 years to eat dead money on a long term deal: At this stage of his career Ben will be after all of the guaranteed money he can get in a new probably his last contract, it's going to be dicey for the steelers to sink a long term investment in Ben considering he may only be around for the short term, even a 5 year deal would pay him into his 17th season, can he complete a 17 year career is the question????