The coming football season could be the final one for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Or maybe it won’t be.
“I think Ben’s mindset is he’s focused on 2021 as we all are,” Steelers G.M. Kevin Colbert recently told PFT PM. “I think we all go into it. We focus on now. We see where things lead. Beyond that, none of us know.
“Obviously, Ben’s at the back end of his career. He was terribly disappointed the way we ended, the way he ended. Shortly after the end of the season, he came to us and said, ‘Listen, I want to be back.’ Of course, we had to work on some things contractually. Honestly, he set off a nice little surge because we had several players that were able to come back to us. Ben led the way by taking that pay cut.”
Roethlisberger gave up $5 million with no way to earn it back via incentives, and he’s due to become a free agent in 2022. If he keeps playing, he’ll undoubtedly play for the Steelers or no one. Whatever happens in 2021 will surely influence his decision for 2022.