Trusting Ben Roethlisberger to Stay Healthy Could Doom Steelers

The Steelers have been with Ben Roethlisberger ever since 2004, and now that the Tom Brady era is over in New England, Big Ben can say he's the longest-tenured active NFL quarterback with a single team.

Big Ben has carried the reputation as one of the league's more fragile quarterbacks, and that's becoming increasingly apparent as the future Hall of Famer is recovering from elbow surgery. Roethlisberger signed a two-year, $68 million extension last spring and ended up missing a majority of the 2019 season with an elbow injury on his throwing arm. The Steelers can fool themselves into thinking Roethlisberger will come back from this better and stronger, but they shouldn't get their hopes up.

Health concerns for Roethlisberger didn't start with his Week 2 elbow injury from last season. Since 2015, Big Ben has dealt with cracked ribs, knee problems and a shoulder sprain, not to mention a concussion among other crushing blows to his head. Roethlisberger has started all 16 regular season games just four times in his pro career, and there's no point in thinking that figure will be any different next year.

Even if Roethlisberger makes a full recovery and is Pittsburgh's clear cut starting QB next season, that doesn't change the fact that he's as injury-prone as ever. The Steelers have Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges and now Paxton Lynch ready to step in for Big Ben at a moment's notice, and that's almost destined to happen at some point.

Pittsburgh's offense has seen a lot of pieces come and go over the last two years, and that could also hinder Roethlisberger's initial production in 2020. While we can all hope Big Ben comes back better than ever, the odds don't favor such a season from Roethlisberger. With that in mind, they ought to find a backup they can rely on.