Stories are being spun out about Ben Roethlisberger not getting extended this year, or possibly even next, after Art Rooney II met with reporters yesterday. Here’s what Mr. Rooney had to say about the possibility of extending Ben this off-season:

“It’s not set in stone. We’ve done it in the past on a couple of occasions, but it’s not necessarily something that’s automatic. I believe we’ll get something done when it’s appropriate for both sides. I think Ben knows that it’s our intention to have him here beyond his current contract, whenever we get [an extension] done.” He added, “The only thing I would say about Ben and his situation is I certainly expect that at some point we will do a contract, whether it’s this season, or after next season, or after the season after that, but I think Ben will be playing here beyond the current contract.”

That’s it. Pretty innocuous, right? I’m not sure how national reporters or even Steelers bloggers are coming to the conclusion that he won’t be extended based on that. It should come as no surprise that Mr. Rooney’s interview responses are going to be guarded and non-committal. What would he have to gain from publicly divulging the organization’s specific contract intentions?

The fact of the matter is that the Steelers don’t have a whole lot of options frankly. The 2014 salary cap situation is such that a big part of the Steelers off season plans are likely going to center, in part, around extending Big Ben to reduce his 2014 salary cap hit.  By extending Ben Roethlisberger during this off-season, the Steelers could easily reduce his 2014 cap hit of $18,895,000 by 4 or 5 million dollars. Furthermore, Art II flat out said, “We’ve got to have Ben retire as a Steeler…there’s no doubt about that.”

As with most things, nothing in the NFL is certain, but I would be pretty surprised if they don’t announce that they’ve agreed on an extension with him in the coming months.