5 stopgap QB options for Steelers if Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t come back

Kevin Colbert’s recent statements provided little optimism for a Ben Roethlisberger return. Here are five stopgap options for Steelers if he is done.

We are in the second half of February, but we are still no closer to figuring out what’s going on with Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers quarterback situation. After it looked like Big Ben was a lock to return with the team in 2021, recent statements by Kevin Colbert made it abundantly clear that Roethlisberger cannot return to the team with his current $41.25 million cap hit.

The only way the Steelers can really get around this, however, is to offer Ben an extension that will push some of this money into future seasons – seasons that he would likely have no intention of playing.

At this point, it’s reasonable to think that Pittsburgh may not be able to come to an agreement with Ben and that they could be looking to move on. If that’s the case, there are a number of stopgap quarterbacks the Steelers could turn to until they find their franchise passer:

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Ryan Fitzpatrick may be just a half-year younger than Ben Roethlisberger, but you could do a whole lot worse as far as a stopgap quarterback goes. Fitzpatrick has been an on-and-off starter since 2008, and there is a reason he has stuck around so long.

The savvy veteran plays the game with a fire lit underneath him. While he may not prove to be an improvement over Roethlisberger, it might not be much of a downgrade either. Fitzpatrick is an unrestricted free agent, and the Steelers could likely sign him to a one-year deal for reasonable money as they would start preparing to find their quarterback of the future.