Tag Archives: Art Rooney II

Ben-Roethlisberger

Steelers Hope To Extend Roethlisberger “The Sooner The Better”

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Staying true to what he said last year, Steelers team president Art Rooney II confirmed his plans to extend QB Ben Roethlisberger during this off-season. While the Steelers have been known to extend their quarterbacks typically two years before their contracts expire, Art Rooney II told Ben Roethlisberger last year that they planned to extend him after the 2014 season.

“The sooner the better,” said Rooney in a meeting with local media this morning when asked when they wanted to extend Roethlisberger. While making it clear that it was a priority, Rooney refused to put a time table on the new deal.

“Obviously we would like to get it done this offseason, and I think it’s fair to say the sooner the better,” said Rooney via Bob Labriola, “but I’m not going to put any particular time frame on these things.

It’s kind of hard to predict how long it takes to get something done, but we certainly want to get something done this offseason. That’s for sure. It takes two to tango when it comes to contract negotiations. I’m not expecting a problem, but again, I hate to put predictions on those kinds of things.”

Last year, the Steelers believed the cap would go up in 2015 (which it will), and that played a large part in their decision to hold off on extending Roethlisberger.

“We believe the cap will go up again next year,” said Art II last year, “and so from a cap planning standpoint, next year will be a better situation for us to address a franchise quarterback type of contract.”

It’s hard to say exactly how Ben’s new deal will be structured. After having coming off a career season, his value definitely went up. I wouldn’t expect his 2015 cap number to change dramatically one way or the other, though. Roethlisberger’s slated to carry a cap number of $18,395,000 in 2015.

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Rooney: We’ll Remain A 3-4 Under Butler

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Steelers president Art Rooney II spoke with local media today about the state of the team, and made one thing perfectly clear: the Steelers will remain a 3-4 defense under Keith Butler.

Many fans hoped or expected the defensive scheme to change when Dick LeBeau stepped away, but as Butler indicated last week, and Rooney confirms this morning, the team will remain a 3-4 defense.

https://twitter.com/EdBouchette/status/557931430559621121

“I don’t see any dramatic changes to the design of the defense,” said Rooney. This shouldn’t be a surprise. Surely Butler will put his stamp on the defense, but after coaching under LeBeau for so long, very little change should be expected.

Art II said that improving the defense during the offseason is a priority, but praised the unit for improving throughout last season. “All things considered, and with some of the personnel changes that we went through, over the course of the season they got better and that’s what you strive to do.”

When asked about former defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, Rooney said he was sorry to see him go. “It was a difficult situation,” said Rooney via Kaboly of the Trib. “Personally, I would’ve loved to see Dick stay. Look, Dick made a decision. The words he used to describe what he wanted to do were his words. I am not going to dispute that. Those were the words he used”

“I was sorry to see Dick go, but as we all know, these things happen in this business,” he added.

 

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Steelers Will Not Be Extending Roethlisberger Until After This Season

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It’s widely known that the Steelers don’t normally negotiate with players once training camp begins, and certainly not when the season starts. The team definitely could have extended Ben Roethlisberger this offseason had they chose to do so, but team president Art Rooney II says the team will address his contract after the 2014 season.

“I met with Ben shortly before we did the Maurkice Pouncey signing just to make sure Ben understood where we were with our intentions as far as a contract extension for him,” said Rooney via Steelers.com. “I just didn’t want him to feel like we were moving ahead with other players without any communication.”

So, sometime before June 12th, the Steelers reached out to Ben and his agent Ryan Tollner to let them know they wouldn’t be extending his contract this year.

“And so I talked to Ben, and then we talked with his agent Ryan Tollner about where we are and the fact we intend on addressing Ben’s contract situation after the season, so that we could address a number of players who were going into their last year in 2014. I think Ben understands that’s our intention and the way we’d like to proceed. I think we had a good conversation.”

The impact of a Roethlisberger extension on this year’s salary cap would have been minimal. The cap is projected to increase for at least the next couple years, and according to Rooney, that had an influence on the team’s decision to wait to extend him. “We believe the cap will go up again next year,” said Rooney, “and so from a cap planning standpoint, next year will be a better situation for us to address a franchise quarterback type of contract.”

Mr. Rooney added that maintaining a winning roster for their franchise quarterback was paramount.

“The other key thing is that Ben wants to be part of a winning team, to be in a position to compete for championships, and he understands that in order to do that we need to try to keep as many of the other players around as we can. So, addressing the players who are going into the final years of their contracts in 2014 makes sense. That’s what he and I talked about.

“We also talked to Ryan, just so that there was communication with him as well, so that they understood the direction in which we wanted to proceed. We wanted to make sure they were understanding that we do want to make a commitment, that we do want to address Ben’s contract next year. It’s not a situation where we’re saying we want to put it on hold. We did assure him that next year is the time frame in which we want to address it.”

One thing is very likely:  the value of Ben’s contract extension will be much higher after this season.

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Steelers Plan To Honor Chuck Noll With Jersey Patch Or Helmet Decal

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The Steelers plan to honor legendary coach Chuck Noll this season according to team president Art Rooney II. Mr. Rooney was on NFL AM yesterday sharing his memories of coach Noll. During the interview, he revealed that the team intends to honor his memory this season by including him on a jersey patch or helmet decal.

Art II was asked what plans the team had to honor Chuck Noll at home this season. “Well, coincidentally this season will be the 40th anniversary of our first superbowl win. So, we had planned on wearing a patch for one game this year, and bringing back the 1974 team,” Rooney told the cast of NFL AM. “Obviously we’ll build on that, and we’ll be of course including probably a patch, or a decal, or something. We’ll be working on that over the next couple of days, but obviously we’ll be including Chuck in the plans in terms of honoring that team, and honoring him.”

The Steelers aren’t the only Pittsburgh team planning to incorporate a jersey tribute. The Pitt Power is planning to add a decal to their jerseys to honor the late Steelers coach. Power co-owner Matt Shaner told reporters over the weekend that the team has requested league approval regarding a jersey decal which would pay tribute to Noll. Pitt Power is Pittsburgh’s Arena league AFL franchise.

Contrary To Reports, Ben Roethlisberger Likely To Be Extended This Year

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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.