Steelers can’t justify giving Ben Roethlisberger an extension at this point
By Tommy Jaggi
Steelers can’t justify an extension for Big Ben
All of this is to say that it would be incredibly difficult right now to justify giving Ben Roethlisberger a contract extension beyond the 2021 season. Ben’s current deal has him under contract until the 2022 offseason. Next year, he is set to make $41.25 million, according to Over the Cap. As it stands, that would make him the single highest-paid player in the league in 2021. There is no way the Steelers should be okay with this.
Still, there are many around the organization who believe that Big Ben could get one more contract extension with the team in an effort to push back a massive cap hit that is currently set to eat up approximately 23 percent of Pittsburgh’s total salary in 2021.
While giving Roethlisberger another two years could mean that they could save some money right away, he certainly isn’t playing well enough to warrant an extension, and pushing that money is only going to hurt Pittsburgh’s cap over the next several years.
light. Related Story. 3 reasons Ben Roethlisberger is holding the Steelers offense back
At the end of the day, it seems like we are really finding out what Roethlisberger has left in the tank, and it’s safe to say the meter is running on empty. The Steelers should see if he would be willing to take a pay cut next year before finally letting him play out the last season of his contract in what has been an epic NFL career.