Steelers sign Ben to a new contract

No details on the number yet. He will be here for 2021.

 

Get in shape Ben

 

Ugh. Oh well one more FINAL year and we move on. I still think he’s playing one more year than he should but what do I know.

 

Anyone betting he is taking a pay cut?

 

Ah I pulled the trigger too fast lol. Nothing new

 

And so it begins/ends. One final year. I hope I'm wrong about what he brings to the offensive table. I really do.

(So here's the positive spin on my opinion that is really gloomy. I just feel like being positive, even though I'm very skeptical.)

Ben and the offense suffered because of an unsettling number of drops and batted balls. Get those back and we are a different team with a higher level of success last season. Quite a few drives wouldn't have stalled. We left a bunch of points on the field right beside those balls that didn't make it to where they were intended.

A new OL concoction could work wonders for us. With the ability to pound the rock, Ben becomes more dangerous. A balanced attack takes pressure off the run AND the pass. Defenses have to start playing us honest. That allows Ben to use his experience to read defenses and exploit them.

Ben might be better accustomed to his elbow and arm strength after a full year under his belt. Improved accuracy and ability to dial in the medium to long-range passes will give Claypool and DJ the opportunity for some chunk plays. With Washington and JuJu (if possible) in the mix, we'll once again have one of the best WR groups in the league. If Ben has time and ability to get the ball beyond 10 yards with consistency, defenses are going to have to commit to stopping the pass and the running game will flourish.

All this bodes well for the offense.

(All that is riddled with more "if's" than substance. But like I said, I feel like being positive right now.)

 

I'm happy he is coming back, I wish he could have taken a little more of a cut to help us out, but oh well.

 

I was in the move on from Ben camp but I don’t mind him coming back under those circumstances at all. My issue was that there would be a tonne of dead money to deal with after he is gone. It should be more manageable now with this new contract.

Now to build what they can around him. They are still not going to have much money for free agency so they need to nail that draft!

Edit: $10.4m dead money next season by my back of an envelope calculations, assuming he retires

 

This a fantastic move for the Steelers and I'm sure one that's greatly appreciated by the front office and fellow teammates alike. The Steelers have a lot more flexibility for 2021. This is essentially the final ride for Ben in Pittsburgh, albeit is an incredible season; let's see where it goes!

 

Shouldn’t this be merged into the other Ben Threads. Don’t really see the point of having so many Ben Threads.

Cajun

 

If I'm TJ Watt I wait to extend. The long term future of this team is murky. They seem to be going all in in 2021, with a huge crash ahead in 2022. Guessing Colbert and Tomlin bail after next year and let the next poor slobs clean it up.

 

Welcome Back Ben!! , now prove all the doubters wrong again!

 

My only issue with this is that for the entire term of Ben's career we have been saying if the Drives didn't stall we would be a different/better team.offense. Other than Ben and Tomlin everything else has changed at some point in Ben's career and here we are still having a constant problem with Drives stalling (and in essence not generating points on a consistent basis).

 

2.85 over the next 4 yrs. On the voidable end after this year. If he retires next year we owe 10+ towards the cap unless he's after june1 cut then we would spread it over 2 years. It actually puts us now roughly 4 mil under with the top 51 of 2.5 -3 under with the 53. We still need moves made.

 

The team is facing an almost total turnover of the roster over the next two years. It could go either way.

Two good drafts and some savvy free agent signings will keep them in the hunt. They will have some cap space next offseason for once.

If they don’t find some guys in the draft, including a QB it could get ugly.

 

Glad they worked it out. I still think right now he's a better bet than a new QB or Haskins or Randolph. I know the Steelers need to move on from Ben after this, but I'm happy to see him have another year to give it a shot.

 

When did he prove the doubters wrong the first time? Just asking.

 

The past few years all you hear was oh this team will go 6- 10, 9-7, 8-8 blah blah blah, Oh Ben cant play, he hurt his arm/ elbow, blah blah blah, Every year he has played well. Fix the line and running game and we are back in contention again.... Mark my words a lot of people will be surprised by midseason next year