Steelers president Art Rooney II: We want Big Ben back

[February 25, 2021]    Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II released a statement Wednesday saying that the team is committed to bringing back quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the 2021 season -- under a reworked contract.

The announcement comes a day after the pair met to discuss the 38-year-old's future with the organization. The next step is reworking Roethlisberger's pesky $41.2 million salary cap hit.

Art Rooney II, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, enters a federal courthouse to resume talks regarding labor and revenue issues between the NFL and the NFL Players Association in Minneapolis, May 16, 2011. REUTERS/Eric Miller

"Ben Roethlisberger and I met (Tuesday) morning and we had a productive meeting" Rooney said. "Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship. We both understand that the next step is to work out Ben's contract situation."

The agent for Roethlisberger intimated as much on Tuesday.

"They want Ben back and will contact me soon to address the cap situation," Ryan 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."

Roethlisberger, who turns 39 next week, threw for 3,803 yards with 33 touchdowns against 10 interceptions in 15 regular-season games last season. Roethlisberger has thrown for 60,348 yards with 396 touchdowns and 201 interceptions in 233 career games since Pittsburgh selected him with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft.

He led the team to Super Bowl wins after the 2005 and 2008 seasons.

(Field Level Media)

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