Big Ben frustrated with the direction of the Steelers

the reason I draft one now is the talent that won't be there down the road. I've always said don't do anything with ben yet. he's still under contract for two years. i'm not sure we even need a first round pick LT or QB in this one. this class is deep in both. lucky us.

I talk about some of that in the draft section. I feel if they are going to dangle two positions we need in front of us, we take it. similar to NE and ryan mallet. GB and Rodgers. 49'ers with kapernick.

I don't know why everyone thinks a higher draft pick has to be plug and play year one game one at every position. sure a team that can't win will, but a team that still has some aged vets at those positions can get by for a year. qb is one of those positions, but really what's the worst that could happen? the kid outplays ben at some point? if so, is that a bad thing for the team going forward? maybe it revives ben to a ben of 5 years ago. still win win for the steelers.

most teams don't have the luxury we do. not to mention a good 4th rounder already learning. heck all jones has to do is have a good outing at some point and his value goes sky high. we've seen this before. (not that I want to get rid of him but it gives us that option if we so choose to use it.) Flynn, cassell, cousins?

teams without a qb have high draft picks and are willing to part with them for hope.

sure we are close with money but I don't see us having to make ben the one we need to dump. we have a few other high paid guys that may not see all their money to offset the retool. a couple of those positions could use freshening anyway.

 

then we took a chance on a kid from Miami of OH. to save us. even when the coach that brought us most of those qb's didn't want him with that pick. teams have hit on back to back franchise qb's. it's like the lottery, ya can't win unless you play. why not play while you have a lot of money already in the bank?

 

I think the era of waiting 20 years to find a legit starting-quality QB that you could build a team around are over. It will still take some time to find a HOFer, the one every 5 years thought seems realistic for that. But if someone is looking for a QB that can make them compete annually for the playoffs, and with enough luck get them some rings, you can find those every draft class now. The feeder system is much more QB friendly now.

I don't advocate parting ways with Ben, but if we do it won't be a repeat of the Bradshaw-to-Ben gap until we can find a suitable replacement that keeps us competetive and gives us hope every year for a solid run.

Our time to win #7 is now, with Ben, so we take the necessary steps to do it while he's still around. It starts with a NFL-quality LT and extends into keeping Haley around. We can't afford to start over again when we still have one of the better QB's out there.

 

that's an opinion BF. we don't know how ben will fair next week let alone if he can play (at a championship caliber level by then). he's beat up we know that.

we need a supporting cast around any qb, not just to build around ben alone. next is we don't know if we can afford ben for two extra years. it's hurt us now keeping that supporting cast around.

I still think we should draft one out of this highly skilled crop. we won't pick this high again, I hope.

 

the decision has to be made at the end of this season , ben will ask an extension that should be in the flacco ballpark .. that's the problem ..but maybe i'm wrong

 

that's why I said it's an opinion, reaffirming that. LOL. anyway.

it will take some good moves and planning by our GM and coach, but there is no reason we couldn't draft a good one and still build. that's part of building too.

I've talked plenty about using this high draft pick to move down a spot or two if we draft high enough. one or two spots can give you a treasure-trove of picks and still grab a few great prospects. heck if we get the 5th slot and move down to 7th and gain picks, i'd consider dropping to 10 and get more. two drops and still a top 10 plus.

 

Again just my opinion, unless the salary cap is raised substancially, the Steelers have to listen to all offers. There is just too many
holes on this team to be a top playoff caliber team to pay a broken down QB boatloads of money.I hope the Steelers are pro active in the off season
to try and improve our team. I do not believe the talent is there that Ben himself could make
us a championship caliber team.

 

that's what deljcz posted on another forum (i hope he doesn't mind that i report here) and i tend to agree with

Of course this off-season will be extremely critical in the Steelers - Roethlisberger marriage. I said four weeks ago this off-season is the ONLY window you can get out of Roethlisberger as your quarterback. Any trade HAS TO happen this spring
I'm torn about what to do with Roethlisberger right now. I want to watch 7 more games with him (and hopefully enjoy them). I want to do my due diligence on the draft, including really starting to look at the QB's. I need to know where we draft, who's in front of us and how their off-seasons are headed. I need to know where teams like Arizona, Minnesota and Houston are drafting.

All this information is just as important to the Steelers as it is to me.

Even once we KNOW all this it's still a tough choice. What could we get in trade? What's Roethlisberger really asking for with a new contract? Those are things we are never going to get full disclosure about - even after a decision is made.

I don't know how any fan here and can just dismiss one side or the other without knowing this stuff. It's IMPORTANT. The answer can't be "never trade Roethlisberger" because if Houston comes in and offers two #1's and two #2's, you better damn well think about that. And believe me if a washed up Carson ****ing Palmer can get two #2's, if hopefuls like Matt Schaub, Matt Cassel and Matt Flynn get #2's, Roethlisberger is worth a hell of a lot more than them. Do NOT underestimate his value on a trade market.

And do not underestimate how ****ed we are with our cap. I'm not sure Colbert's smoke-and-mirrors stuff is going to come close to fixing it this off-season. Again, more information that needs to be part of the equation.

There is no right or wrong answer right now on this issue. Both sides have some serious positives and negatives for the organization and I would venture if either path was handled extremely well could lead to championships

 

Del knows what he is talking about.I believe some team will definatley open there pocket book for Ben R,we will have to get LOTS of draft picks for this rebuild.In the mean time you make a deal for, Kirk Cousins in DC and move on from there. WE HAVE to listen to all offers.To keep him, the cap will have to go up DRAMATICALLY.If fans think
he will be giving the Rooney's the hometown discount,you are sadly mistaken.

 

If he doesn't will the response from fans be supportive or will we see a reaction like they gave James Harrison?

 

Ben should not be asked to take a paycut in my opinion because he has sacrificed his body on pretty much a play by play basis because of this inept line. I just want him here no matter what it takes to keep him here.

 

I think if your a realistic fan and know
market prices for a franchise QB they would. I am not questioning how good Ben R has been for this organization, he has been great.
Under the circumstances, we can
no longer afford him.

 

Gary Dulac PG has thrown out these numbers for Ben R. 3 yrs 75 million. Now nobody knows if this is true or correct. But I would say that it is market price for a franchise QB.

 

http://overthecap.com/top-player-salaries.php?Position=QB

here you have the qb contracts number in the league .

 

seems too much for me

 

we will have to cut somewhere else.

go to some of the other positions on there and look at some upcoming money figures. is Woodley really the 2nd best OLB in the league? he'll be paid like it.

our highest paid LT is levi brown this year. never played a friggin down for us. isn't this kinda an important position there mr. colbert? not to mention it's only a little over half a mil. just look where the money is now, and where it's going to be. the colon deal is helping too. thanks kev, helluva job.

 

I think we have to see what kind of offer we can get for Ben when the season is over...IMO a lot depends on our play these last remaining games....I do think that 75 Million is to high at this point in his career and with his high mileage....

I also think that Johnny Football would be a great fit for our current Roster...He has the ability to make an Offensive Line look a lot better,he also can extend plays at a higher level than even Ben can do IMO...The reason that is so Important is our WR Corps ,they are used to running the scramble drill..

 

OK even @ 20 mill/season. Are you
going to spend that on a broken down QB?

 

No way I'd spend that on a broken down QB, but I'd spend that on Ben.

 

Johnny Manziel is listed at 6'1 and weighs 210 but he's actually 5'11 and weighing just near 200 lbs which is too small for the NFL. College is as far as his success will go. So behind our offensive line he isn't a good fit.

 

Mac, do you pay Ben R. boatloads
of money and have no money to sorround him with mediocre talent to go 6 and 10? What has
he done so special these last 2.5 years with some talent?Has he won us more games than what we should have? Don't forget if we are going to pay him
somebody/s else is going BYE BYE.You have to shop him and go on from there.Only time will tell?Pray that the Rooney's have some sort of plan.They must change the way they do business in this modern era.

 

we absolutely pay him what he's owed next year. add parts and see where we are. we then have 2015 which actually cost us a few hundred thousand less on his contract to evaluate offers and still have him under contract. if he truly doesn't want to go anywhere, we show him what we have to spend and we move on to plan B. we can't allow him or his salary to hold the team hostage in rebuilding. if things are looking up, i'm sure ben will want to be part of it. he's looking at HOF in his final years, not starting over ala peyton manning.

if Colbert wasn't looking at young qb's I would have a problem. that's his job. he has bosses too. you can't bury your head in the sand and not look. you know our "guy" now isn't going to play forever.

as a GM hoping like heck, you can keep your job, do you,
A. mortgage your career to keep a very high priced older, beat up qb around that maybe you can win with at some point?
B. limit your team's choices of OC's, because of a very high priced, older, beat up qb, that you have won with in the past, but need so much around him to do it again doesn't like the choice?
C. rebuild with money and young up and comers as you rebuild?
D. rebuild, get up and comers, and try to win with a high priced, older, beat up qb, while he's under contract, but give yourself other options in waiting?
E. give him more time and more money to limit your team rebuild?

it could get worse before it gets better. dead money is coming.

I see a pattern starting, but maybe i'm way off. we cut one guy after he wouldn't take a pay cut and we parlay a mistake in to a two year dead money hit. now we take the dead money hit remaining, and add a guy that won't take that pay cut, but parlay him into that two year hit and do this until we get some dead weight and money flowing again. does this make sense?

one two year hit and one hard hit per season on the dead money front. which also thins out the herd for new players. while keeping ben for at least two more.

 

Hey, it's 54 degrees back there in Da Burgh.