4 ways keeping Ben Roethlisberger will hurt the Steelers in the future
By Tommy Jaggi
Handicapping Matt Canada and Steelers offense
While this reason may seem minuscule compared to the rest, it’s important to consider the repercussions of keeping a 39-year-old quarterback around with a young, innovative offensive coordinator. If you are familiar with Matt Canada’s offenses from his college football days, he loves to get play-action and pre-snap motion involved as much as possible – two things that Roethlisberger expressed that he doesn’t like.
Catering to Ben’s needs could handicap Canada and potentially cause his stay in Pittsburgh to be much shorter than it should. The Steelers are going to expect to see some serious changes on offense in 2021, but I’m not sure that Roethlisberger is going to be willing to learn a new playbook and go along with all of them in his old age.
At this point in his career, you could make a case as to why having a good offensive coordinator for the future would be more valuable than having an old Ben Roethlisberger for one season. I would hate to see Canada be forced to limit his offensive potential because it doesn’t suit Roethlisberger’s needs.
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Ben’s future with the team still seems to be up in the air at this point. While it’s possible that the Steelers could find the playoffs one last time under Roethlisberger’s direction, I don’t see them competing for a Super Bowl in 2021. If keeping Big Ben around means hurting the chances of success for Pittsburgh in the future, it won’t be worth it.