Pittsburgh Steelers team president Art Rooney II held his end-of-the-season question and answer session with the media on Wednesday and as expected, he let it be known that an offseason goal for the organization is to get quarterback Ben Roethlisberger signed to a contract extension, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
As previously posted on this site, a new contract extension for Roethlisberger will more than likely be completed by the start of the 2019 new league year in March as that’s when the quarterback is due a $5 million roster bonus. Such an extension, assuming it does get done this offseason, would likely be for four years and that would tie Roethlisberger to the Steelers through the 2023 season.
As far as new money average goes for Roethlisberger as part of a new contract extension, it could be as low as $29 million, as former NFL agent Joel Corry recently suggested when he speculated what a new deal might look like for the quarterback. In his example, Roethlisberger would get at least roughly $116 million in new money as part of a four-year contract extension and a signing bonus of around $40 million.
Roethlisberger’s previous contract extensions have taken place right around his birthday in early March so it’s a good bet that he’ll sign another one this year around that same time frame. He talked briefly about a possible extension during his end-of-the-season interview on 93.7 The Fan a few weeks ago.
“I’ll let the process kind of unfold itself,” Roethlisberger said when asked if he knows when he’ll sit down with the Steelers to try to work out a new deal. “If the Steelers want to talk, my agents and them, that’s what they’re paid to do. But like I said, if they want to have me, I’d love to be here.”
