VIDEO: Chris Canty Claims Some Within Steelers Organization Are ‘Praying’ Ben Roethlisberger Retires
By Michael Luciano
Ben Roethlisberger has been an ever-present fixture in the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting lineup since he was drafted in 2004, but the franchise could be angling for Big Ben to voluntarily leave the organization, according to First Things First's Chris Canty. Canty claims that sources within the Steelers organization want Roethlisberger to hang up his cleats and retire to save them money on his massive contract extension.
"There are people in the Steelers organization praying Big Ben retires. That would give them a few more options on how they're going to manage their salary cap. The 2-year, $68M contract extension they gave him last offseason looks like an awful deal right now." — @ChrisCanty99 pic.twitter.com/BmgpGkTTb7
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) February 11, 2020
Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl champion, is owed an insane amount of money over the next few years, and he only managed to play six quarters last year, forcing the Steelers to make do with Mason Rudolph, who was uninspiring, and Devlin Hodges, who wasn't quite that.
Despite a top-heavy quarterback class this year, it seems likely that Pittsburgh will roll No. 7 out there once again.
Should the @steelers be comfortable with their current QB situation?
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) February 8, 2020
The #GMFB crew weighs in as Ben Roethlisberger is entering his 17th NFL season ?
?: @gmfb pic.twitter.com/w6IqTnDwxQ
Roethlisberger is by no means the player he was in his prime, but when healthy, he's clearly a top-half quarterback. However, Pittsburgh needs to decide if they're comfortable with rolling out a 38-year-old QB fresh off a major injury in 2020, or if starting over with a younger option is better for the long-term health of the franchise.