Less than a week after his boss Art Rooney II said that they will give quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a new deal after this season, Steelers’ General Manage Kevin Colbert has now stated the same thing.
“I don’t see any circumstance where Ben won’t finish his career here,” said Colbert.
Citing the fact that Steelers are about $6 million under the cap and that the cap is expected to rise significantly again next season, Colbert believes after this season is the best time to get a new deal for Roethlisberger.
As I said in the case of ARII’s statement last Friday, when you put out statements such as this, you put your reputation on the line not just in general but also as the fans see the team. The Steelers have long prided themselves on doing things the ‘right’ way in terms of running a football franchise and part of that is being accountable to the fans.
It is likely the team could still be working on long-term deals for Cortez Allen, Marcus Gilbert or even Jason Worilds. I expect one of those, Allen is my bet, to get done before the end of camp.
While ARII is the team president and has the last name most synonymous with the Steelers’ organization to support him when right or wrong, Colbert does not have such liberty. His recent failures in terms of the NFL Draft already haunt him in the eyes of many Steelers’ fans and if Ben Roethlisberger ends up elsewhere in 2015 he’ll have more to answer for than will Art Rooney II.
Despite a lot of writing on the wall that gives me deep concern that this might not come to pass, I still believe the Steelers are happy with where Roethlisberger is in both his professional and personal life. I will therefore remain optimistic that a year from now we will be talking about Big Ben’s new deal rather than something far more sinister.
Either way, Colbert has now thrown out his comments on the issue and he understands the risk as well as anyone.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio.
If the Steelers fail to make it to a 4th Super Bowl w/ Ben Roethlisberger as QB almost 100% of the blame needs to be laid @ Colberts feet. His terrible drafts & inability to give Ben weapons that every other SB winning QB gets from their front office is dumbfounding.
I think this contract situation with Ben will be a referendum on Colbert’s job. If they on’t get it done he needs to go.
Really…you don’t think the organization has had talks regarding this and you don’t think they spoke with #7 about their plan. When was the last time a franchise quarterback left their team…it doesn’t happen in the NFL and won’t happen in Pittsburgh.
I think he is here for life Joey but ask yourself if the front office thought he’d play all 16 games last year. What happens if he misses time this season? Would they give him $20 million a year? I’m trying to look at it from both sides.
Look you guys know my feelings on ART II so I’ll throw my 2 cents in to the fray. Pay Ben the damn money. Ben is the reason why this team is in contention every year despite what the records say. Yes they have not given Ben the right amount of weapons other than Brown, Miller and Bell but then again the organization really never has cared about the passing game. They still believe that passing is the 2nd option and that running the ball first can wear the D out. Well that used to be the case now a days it’s the RB that gets worn out fast and no I ‘m not saying it should a full on passing attack but I wish Art Rooney II would see that a pass first offense with the intent to use the run game to help out Ben and the passing game. Just pay him the money and let the issue be dropped afterwards.