Are Bens days numbered?

It wouldn't surprise me if this is the case. If Jones can play at a level that the front office is comfortable with, why not jettison Ben's monster salary? Do I think he can take Ben's place? Too early to tell. But Ben isn't getting any younger, and his style of play will most likely cut his career shorter than someone like Peyton Manning I think.

 

Just because someone is being grommed as his replacement doesn't mean his days are numbered. We clearly don't have an heir to the thrown right now and desperately need one given the beating Ben takes.

 

As I said in another thread it wouldn't surprise me at all. The organization's mo has always been to let aging high priced veterans go and Ben fits that perfectly. People can play homer all they want, but Ben is going to want big money in his next contract. I'm sure they will sit back and think long and hard on whether it's better to pay Ben 20+million a year and lose other valuable pieces or to let Ben go and keep those pieces. In my eyes drafting Landry Jones was a calculated move by the Steelers front office and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he's the starting qb in 2015.

One other thing. People are complaining about Jone's "happy feet". Haley's offense is predicated on short quick passes which if executed properly largely nullifies the pass rush. Assuming they stick with Haley's offense or something similar then Jone's happy feet becomes a moot point as the ball will be gone before the pass rush can physically get there. Jone's has a quick release and is very accurate which will fit Haley's scheme perfectly.

 

Ugh...

To keep it short. No I don't think Landry will be Ben's replacement. That being said, even if I'm wrong... Who cares at this point. Let's wait until A. Landry Jones shows something on the field, and B. Ben is 3 years older and we can actually discuss this.

 

I see nothing more than Charlie speculating about things just like all of us do.

 

So long as Ben keeps winning his job will not be replaced by the Rooneys. Landry could turn into another Mark Malone for this franchise for all we know. Ben is a doesn't come around very often type of QB here and Landry is a 4th round nobody at this point.

 

The perfect scenario is that Landry shows enough stuff in practice/preseason to the extent that he becomes a valuable commodity. Why wouldn't we want him to become a great QB? Having said that, even if he does everything right this year, he will not take Ben's place next year (injury aside). But let's look at history. How often has one franchise QB replaced another? I can think of 2: Steve Young replacing Montana and Aaron Rodgers replacing Brett Favre. The Steelers will be lucky if Landry can be that guy.

 

LOL, Landry hasn't even thrown an NFL pass and we're already talking about him replacing Ben. If anything, I'm hoping this starts a fire in the belly for Ben to try harder. To me, Ben was not clutch in game deciding plays this past year like he has been all his career. That magic seems to be dissipating. Maybe this will get his mojo going again.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Also, Batch saying this is just his speculation, but if you look at the facts, this move makes complete sense. We can't go into another season with aging back up Qb's. We will have the perfect combo, If Ben goes down, we lose our franchise QB, but we bring in Bruce who is a guy who can win in this league and hold the fort for a few games. And if by chance Bruce goes down, we no longer have to bring in an almost 40 year old back up who (as much as we love him) can't throw the ball 20 yards any more. Ben is our franchise QB and will remain as such until someone can out seat him. But that wont be happening in the next few years.

 

Actually, I think there is a chance that Landry is the heir apparent. How much if a chance? Hard to say. But I sure would love it if he turns into a stud QB.

 

ABSOLUTELY! I had read a nice article about Landry Jones and he made some comments that I really liked in there, something about not wanting to be a career backup and wanting a chance to start one day and willing to work hard to get there. I thought to myself, YES!!!!! That is EXACTLY what we need behind Ben. I do believe Ben is an almost elite quarterback and the only reason I say almost is because I think he has a tendency to be a little lazy when it comes to film study and preparation. He could be elite if he worked on the cerebral part of his game. But having a young hot shot like Jones come in who has expressed that he will not be satisfied being a career backup may cause Ben to pick it up a notch in areas of his game that need to be improved upon.

I have another theory about Landry Jones ultimately replacing Ben. I really believe that the Rooneys were infuriated by Ben's behavior in his first few seasons in Pittsburgh. There was his alleged mistreatment of people in the community, waiters and others and his motorcycle accident sans helmet which nearly killed him. Then there was the two straight off-seasons that Ben was accused of rape. It seemed for a while that the three certainties of the NFL offseason was free agency, the draft and Ben being accused of sexual misconduct. The Rooneys have had players get in trouble in the past, but not quite in this way. Ben was the face of the franchise. He was the guy they paid a king's ransom to to lead their football team, one of the most respected and successful in the history of the NFL, for the next decade. And Ben repays them by going out and making a mockery of the Black and Gold and embarrassing the Rooney family.

This is just my own personal theory, but I believe it may have some merit. Maybe the Rooneys really are starting to think about life after Ben and it MAY possibly come sooner than any of us realize.

 

Thank you

I know it's offseason guys but you don't "get rid" of 2 SBs and a 3rd appearance. This is absurd. A QB that will be remembered always for his style and skill. Ben changed the way football is played too. It's over stated on broadcasts but they always bring up, blah blah out of the pocket, sandlot style, great awareness of bodies around him.
Its dumb to even flirt with the idea of jones seeing the field, willingly by coaches, for atleast 3 years. Personally I hate the pick but I understand why. Was Dennis Dixon being groomed??

Give it a rest.

 

You make a good point about the escalation of contracts these days. Are players eventually pricing themselves out of a job? I don't know the exact figures, but lets say the cap is $140 million when he's up for renewal. Can a team (any team) honestly afford to have 1/7th of the entire cap wrapped up in one player? I wonder if we will see a point where careers are either shorter or the salaries will stop skyrocketing. One can hope at least

 

I sometimes wonder about Steeler fans. Do fans in NE wish for a replacement to push Brady? Did Indy fans push for someone like that for Peyton? The dissatisfaction about Ben, his 3 yr old off season issues his alleged lack of film study, his hanging in to the ball too long,is sometimes beyond belief. Someday Ben will be gone and you'll get somebody else, odds are very good that regardless of Bens faults the next guy won't be half as good. These are the good old days. No wonder Bradshaw didn't come back to Pitt for 20 yrs.

 

Mark this down-ASIDE FROM INJURY L JONES WILL NEVER BE A STARTER FOR THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS! Stop drinking the river water friends because the guy is a BACKUP and thats all. Ben will be here to finish out his career, and will start EVERY game he is able to.

 

so we just drafted a new tom brady ? no because if not i don't want that he will take the ben spot anytime