Steelers sign Ben to a new contract

He will be free to go wherever he likes, but if Ben retires as expected the starting job will be wide open going in to training camp. Even if they draft somebody I don’t see Mason getting a better opportunity elsewhere.

If the team want him to stay and make him any sort of reasonable offer he should take it

 

Well Y'all know how I feel about it. YESSSSSS
I hope He proves Me correct.
Also I think Rudolph (Randolph 4 others) would be dumb 2 leave. I seen someone else comment on this. When Ben leaves , he will have every chance 2 be the Starter.

 

I'm happy with the resigning. It was unfair to put the full load on Ben last year at his age and coming off major elbow surgery. If they can get a somewhat competent running game and find a few linemen that can run block, we should be in good shape with Bush and maybe dupree returning on defense. This team is 90% of the way to a championship caliber team. Ben is still a good enough QB to be a part of that. He just can no longer run an offense that throws the ball 600 times a season.

 

The interesting part will be seeing what type of players they lean toward. Looking at nearly two-thirds of the roster they can shape over the next two years, several key positions. They need to nail these two drafts.

 

Ater over 60years as a Steelerfan the Ben situation and MT still being head coch Iam seriosly considering no longer being a Steeler fan. Art ROONEY SR and the way he did things was a very big reason for being a Steeler fan.The way things are being run now is almost an insult to Arts legacy.Changing teams is not an option but just giving up watching football isand the only way management might bring back the STEELERS we have known and loved all of these decades

 

FYI for those interested in the contract, from OTC:

https://overthecap.com/steelers-and-roethlisberger-agree-to-a-new-contract/

Fitzgerald touches on something I thought a little odd as well:

 

I had estimated in a different thread on this board a month back that until we know
how much the Steelers and Ben will negotiate down his contract We couldn't do a thing.
Even though I would have liked to see the Steelers negotiate down to 10 million for next year
they are achieving some benefit of cap savings from Ben after paying him North of 232 million dollars
thruout his Steeler career. Any fan of the Steelers /#7 will have to ask themselves was 2 superbowls worth it
for all the money we paid him?

 

Yes we do and this is where the purge comes in, JuJu, Hayden, Dupree, Vince, Hilton, Conner. we just can't keep all that we would like. These cap savings
will help pay for TJ WATT, Minka Fitzpatrick mega deals.

 

That’s all correct but the true benefit of getting him to leave money on the table was never really going to be in 2021. It’s the dead money when he leaves that was the issue.

They’ll have a lot of rebuilding to do in the coming years. This move reduces the dead money hit next year by $4m. It was worthwhile for that alone.

 

juju, dupree, hilton, conner are not counting towards where we are at and moves to be made still. tj is accounted for and so is minka right now. hayden and vince are the guys they have to look at to make deals about or cut. nelson, tuitt, decastro, those are probably the main players. we are 3.6 mil. to the good right now, but thats with 51 counting only. hassenauer they say will count 120,000. now come the season start with the 53 he will count more and so will the other guy to equal 53, probably 660,000 more. so we will have about 2.4 in reality right now. they usually carry at least that much into the season in case of injury. we still have to sign the rookies and practice squad.

 

Mason will be restricted next year. Correct? So his availability to sign elsewhere will depend on which restricted tender the Steelers put on him, and if there is a team that wants to give up a pick to sign him.

Ben very well may not retire next year either. There was a report recently that Ben wants to play for 3 more years. Seems like Ben gets whatever he wants. Mason Rudolph wants to play. He is not going to want to wait forever for his shot. There will be a team out there for him if he decided he wants out.

 

Mason was a third round pick so he will be a free agent next off season unless they extend or tag him. The tag is out of the question because of the cost, but a modest extension should be very doable.

Tenders are only used on undrafted or non vested free agents. They can tender Haskins for example because he was a street free agent after getting released by Washington, ie nobody picked him up on waivers.

Quite possible Ben plays on like you say, if he plays well in 2021 I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. In that case Mason should probably look elsewhere for an opportunity.

 

Have to prepare for future like all other cap strapped teams, the sun will come up tomorrow Steeler fans.

 

Thanks for the info. I was thinking Mason would be a restricted FA. I'm not even sure why I was thinking that. If that was the case no draft pick would ever leave. Brain cramp I guess.

 

Sure the hell hope our defense is healthy and strong for 2021 cause we will need it big time. Our schedule will be tougher next year. I'll miss playing the NFC least. I was hoping we could move on from Ben. IMO, only way Ben will be of any use is if we have a damn good blocking TE, a damn good O-line and it would be nice to have a durable running back. Sorry I'm against this but am really looking forward to how this plays out.

I got a feeling I'm going to see a lot of Ben threads next season along with Tomlin must go.

 

You could have spent all that money and had no Super Bowls to show for it. Phil Rivers has cashed about as much as Ben has. So has Aaron Rodgers who has one title. Money can’t buy you love or a championship. But it does give you a chance. Ben has given this team a chance for 17 yrs. that all you can ask for. I think the ride is over except for the 2021 Big Ben Tribute to Mediocrity Farewell tour, but that aside Ben ain’t shortchanged nobody.

 

I guess everybody is allowed their opinion.

 

Mason after learning Ben has extended yet again...

 

mason says he's tougher. he got hit in the head with a helmet, ben simply told him i got hit with a windshield.

 

Boooooooo

 

further proof Ben is an idiot. He didn’t get hit in the head with a windshield. He hit a windshield with his head.

 

We are doomed.

 

I don't really see a signifcant gain, at least in light of the grander scheme. I got where they were looking to bank the $4m. And of course every dollar counts, but if they were focused on maximizing their cap dollars they could have just pushed harder for the retirement angle and gained another $10m.

While I think Ben still gives the team the best chance to win a given game, it's now much more marginal. I take that and add Rooney wanting Ben to go out in better fashion than had 2020 been his last as an overlay to the more significant undertaking of realigning the roster for the post-Ben era. In that light, taking a hard stance with a franchise great for a fistful of dollars in return feels oddly irrelevant.

I mean, sure, they got $4m back. But right now they've got a pretty open checkbook for 2022 and beyond. If the concern was pinching every penny for that endeavor I think you question the cost/benefit of the $15m they're still spending on Ben's returning for 2021. If on the other hand they felt Ben a significant contributor why push for a rather marginal return of salary?