Pros and cons of Steelers potentially benching QB Ben Roethlisberger

Cons of benching Ben Roethlisberger

While benching a 39-year-old quarterback with zero upside for the future while your team may be out of playoff contention soon seems like the logical choice, it’s not a foolproof decision. There could be repercussions of doing this.

For starters, the team is behind Big Ben, and sending the franchise quarterback to the bench might send a message that Pittsburgh isn’t interested in winning. In turn, it may be harder to rally the troops each game or even set a winning tone/attitude with the players.

Perhaps the biggest reason it may be a poor decision to bench Roethlisberger, however, is that it could be a bad look — a tarnished mark on his otherwise incredible resume. Ben has been a staple to this team, and because of the value of the quarterback position and the championships he brought to Pittsburgh, he may be the single most valuable player this franchise has ever had.

Throwing him under the bus at the tail end of his career would be a bad look for the organization, and it could burn bridges with the star quarterback if he wants to stay involved with the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh after he retires.

I can see both sides of the fence from where I’m standing, and personally, I would be in favor of a chance if the Steelers quarterback continues to struggle as he has. However, I have a hard time seeing the Rooney family being okay with allowing this to happen. In my opinion, I think Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert weather the storm with their future Hall of Fame quarterback.