Ben Roethlisberger met Tuesday with Steelers president Art Rooney II as the next step in figuring out the team's salary cap situation for 2021.
Even though the meeting went well and both sides came away feeling good about the situation, don't necessarily expect some kind of immediate announcement regarding the quarterback's future.
But the meeting went well and the Steelers and Roethlisberger look as if they will be able to come to some kind of agreement on a contract restructure that will create cap space for the team.
In fact, Roethlisberger's longtime agent, Ryan Tollner, told the NFL Network he'll be talking to the Steelers soon about getting that number lower.
"They want Ben back and will contact me soon to address his cap situation," Tollner told NFL Network. "As we've shared since the season ended, we are happy to creatively adjust his contract to help them build the best team possible. A year ago, Ben wasn't sure if he could throw again, but he battled back to get 12 wins and the 8th division title of his career. They lost steam down the stretch and that doesn't sit well for him, so the fire burns strong and there is plenty of gas in the tank."
The Steelers don't have to make an immediate move. The new league year doesn't start until March 17, and Roethlisberger's $15-million roster bonus isn't due until March 19, the third day of the new league year.
Teams must be under the salary cap by that March 17 deadline, however. But the league also hasn't yet told teams what that cap will be. That announcement is expected to happen sometime next month.
Current estimates have it coming in at somewhere around $185 million, down from $198.2 million this season, because of the pandemic.
After restructuring Cam Heyward's contract earlier in the week and also processing the retirements of both Maurkice Pouncey and Vance McDonald, the Steelers are now estimated to be between $6 and $7 million over the cap, assuming it comes in at $185 million.
Those dire predictions about the team being forced to release a bunch of players just to get under the cap have not come to fruition.
But part of the meeting between Roethlisberger and Rooney Tuesday dealt with the direction of the team and exactly how many of the team's 19 pending free agents the Steelers will be capable of retaining.
Roethlisberger has already made it known he would like to see the Steelers make a pitch to keep wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, while Rooney said earlier this year that improving the team's running game is a must.
Those two things are not necessarily conflicting, but paying Smith-Schuster his market value, estimated by Spotrac.com to be $17 million per season, would mean the Steelers would be unlikely to do much else on the free agent market without making other major moves.
Rooney and GM Kevin Colbert also have both said they have expressed to Roethlisberger that the team can't afford to have his current cap hit of $41.25 million on the books for 2021, something Roethlisberger understands, as well.
Despite that cap hit, however, the quarterback is due just $19 million in new money, including the roster bonus. What the Steelers and Roethlisberger must figure out is whether the quarterback will take a pay cut -- which is unlikely -- or if they will simply add a voidable year or two to his current contract and restructure the money he's owed to reduce his 2021 cap hit.
Roethlisberger seems unlikely to simply take a pay cut and play for the veteran minimum, waiving the roster bonus. And for the Steelers to ask him to do so would be a slap in the face.
What's more likely is that the Steelers turn $18 million of what Roethlisberger is owed into signing bonus and add two more years onto his contract, allowing them to lower his 2021 cap hit to around $27 million. That would create an additional $14 million in cap space for the Steelers, putting them under the salary cap.
If he retires, it saves the Steelers $19 million against the 2021 cap. But that seems unlikely now.
The ball now is clearly in Roethlisberger's court. Does the soon-to-be 39-year-old quarterback want to return in 2021 without Pouncey and McDonald, two of his closest friends on the team, assuming the Steelers can't keep Smith-Schuster?
That is something only Roethlisberger knows. But it seems like he still does.
What is unlikely to happen is something many have speculated in the last week -- Roethlisberger will be released. The Steelers aren't interested in parting ways with their franchise quarterback in that way. The only way Roethlisberger is released is if he wants to play elsewhere. And that's unlikely.
So, Roethlisberger's status will be one of two things. He'll play for the Steelers in 2021 or he'll retire.
