Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been with the team since 2004, when he was selected with the 11th overall pick in the draft that year.
Since that time, Big Ben has won two Super Bowls, and has led the team to the playoffs more often than not.
And while he’s taken a ton of hits over the years — given that he tends to extend the play by moving around in the pocket for longer than most other signal-callers, to let receivers get open downfield — he still appears to have a few more seasons left in him. Big Ben is under contract through the 2019 season, but the team appears to be angling toward keeping him around for longer than that, according to team owner Art Rooney.
“[W]e’d like to extend Ben’s contract,”Rooney told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. “I always hate to predict the timing of those things, but that’s certainly something that is on the agenda for this offseason. Yes, the good news is that you certainly look around the league now and quarterbacks are playing at a high level into their 40s. I wouldn’t have expected that years ago, so I feel good about where Ben is physically, mentally, his ability to be a productive player for multiple years. So, I think we feel good about trying to extend his contract.”
Big Ben will make roughly $17 million next season ($5 million roster bonus + $12 million base salary), but carries a cap hit of $23.2 million. So the the team could look to restructure Roethlisberger’s deal to make it more cap-friendly.
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