On Thursday, the Chicago Bears announced that they have signed veteran quarterback Jay Cutler to a new seven-year contract and while the financial terms and structure are still undisclosed at the time of this post, several are reporting that the average yearly value will come in at around $18 million.
Cutler was set to become an unrestricted free agent and now that his situation has been addressed, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, along with New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, figure to be next on the list to get mega-deals via contract extensions during the offseason.
Roethlisberger, who in 2013 played every snap for the first time in his career, still has two years on his current contract, but judging by the Steelers track record, an extension is forthcoming. As far as new money goes for Roethlisberger, whose final two years of his current contract total out to be $27 million, that will likely average out to be more than the $20.1 million that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco received last offseason and it will likely include a signing bonus somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-32 million.
The Steelers will certainly need the salary cap room in 2014 that a Roethlisberger extension would provide them, so getting this done prior to the start of free agency would certainly be a good thing. The last time that Roethlisberger was given an extension was in the early part of March in 2008, so that indeed could be the timeframe that we are looking at this time around.
