Ben, MR and Duck

[Ernie]

QB's don't get paid by what tier you think there in, they get paid if they are a capable franchise QB and then the timing determines the amount. Ben will be going to the HOF, he has been absolutely incredible for the Steelers, he just happens to have played in an era where QB play is spectacular, that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve his pay or that he still isn't the most important piece to this team. Let's face it, as good as the defense is they are never reaching a Superbowl without a franchise QB.

i wont deny any of that... and im not taking anything away from what Ben has accomplished. Im just saying that, at age 39+, it was a reach to not only pay him what we did... but more importantly.. when we did.

If you believe hes still worth what we paid him, thats fine by me. We will have to revisit this in a year or so and see whos right.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Can they franchise him?

My understanding is that when you put the franchise tag on someone, you need to have the cap room available immediately. I'm not sure we'll have the space.

I think Dave at the Terrible Podcast said that freeing up that $16M to lay the tag would involve cutting players most would want to keep (I thought they mentioned Haden, but your analysis shows that's not super helpful).
https://steelersdepot.com/2019/10/st...h-projections/

The other way they suggested doing it was to restructure Ben. Since Ben only has 2 years left, they said that doing that would make it so we'd have room next year but then an enormous cap hit for Ben the year after. Maybe they can extend him to spread the restructure over more years?

Omar's a wizard though. I hope he sees a way to get us through next year while keeping Bud (I think we also probably need new deals for JuJu, AV, and at least a 5th year option for TJ...I let Conner play out his contract).

My guess is that Bud walks as a cap casualty, but I hope I'm wrong.

From the link above:
Restructures?: The Steelers might be forced to restructure the contract of defensive end Stephon Tuitt again during the offseason and hope that he can finish out the remaining years healthy. A maximum Tuitt restructure would free up $5,453,333 in 2020 salary cap space. The Steelers could also free up another $9,977,500 in 2020 salary cap space by fully restructuring the contract of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Doing so, however, would set him up to have a monster cap charge in 2021, the final year of his contract. It would be a giant can being kicked down the road. Guard David DeCastro and center Maurkice Pouncey both might be contract restructure candidates as well if push comes to shove. Roethlisberger has a $12.5 million roster bonus due in March, so we’ll find out quickly if he’ll be restructured.

If you use Ben's contract to restructure you definitely do it by extending him. You stretch the signing bonus an extra year and add to it so that there is a big hit after he retires. Since most expect that there won't be a huge cap hit for a starting qb at that time then a dead cap hit won't have a huge impact.

[Steel Maniac]

If you use Ben's contract to restructure you definitely do it by extending him. You stretch the signing bonus an extra year and add to it so that there is a call hot the test after he retires. Since most expect that there won't be a huge call hot for a starting qb at that time then a call hot won't have a huge impact.

I hope not; we get 20 mil of dead cap space back from the AB departure.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I hope not; we get 20 mil of dead cap space back from the AB departure.

We don't actually get any space back, we just aren't charged that money next year, which would have been charged had AB still been here under his original deal. There is no actual refund to the cap.

[SteelerMaine83]

QB's don't get paid by what tier you think there in, they get paid if they are a capable franchise QB and then the timing determines the amount. Ben will be going to the HOF, he has been absolutely incredible for the Steelers, he just happens to have played in an era where QB play is spectacular, that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve his pay or that he still isn't the most important piece to this team. Let's face it, as good as the defense is they are never reaching a Superbowl without a franchise QB.

I think there is a key point in this—BeN has played in a era with some great QBs, some of the best ever. Absent Brady, Ben would have at least a couple more SB rings, in my opinion. Would he be top tier then?

Never mind stats (other than wins and losses), Ben clearly has had the “it” factor as a QB and has the two rings, and will be a first ballot HOFer. That’s top tier to me.

[SteelerMaine83]

I think roster construction (i.e. player value vs. cap hit) is one of the most important jobs on the team.

The goal should always be to get the best players you can and to pay them less than their market value.

When Ben wasn't willing to take a team friendly deal, I don't understand why we rushed to extend him. Why not wait a year so we're only extending him with 1 year remaining instead of 2? Imagine if we did that and we were now at the point where we were talking an extension after him missing most of the year to injury.

Spot on. Roster construction is the most important factor for the success of all teams, and arguably (based on their success), Pittsburgh has done it pretty darn well for a long time.
I will admit to being disappointed this off-season with the re-signings of Alualu, Chickillo and Foster. Not unhappy with the re-signings (okay, maybe Chickillo) but with how much. I don’t think anyone else in the league would have valued them quite as high as we did. I might’ve nickeled and dimed them a little to get another $1-2M of cap space, but maybe that’s just me.

[Northern_Blitz]

I hope not; we get 20 mil of dead cap space back from the AB departure.

But we lose the extra $20 M we have this year carried over from the Bell tag.

The link I pit gives what I think is a good outline of our cap situation

[SteelerMaine83]

Both Bell and AB have nothing to do with our cap anymore. We have taken our hits and we owe them nothing. If they were still around we would have to do some heavy 1) restructuring and 2) cutting good players. Couldn’t be happier to have both players gone.

[Oh wow]

Both Bell and AB have nothing to do with our cap anymore. We have taken our hits and we owe them nothing. If they were still around we would have to do some heavy 1) restructuring and 2) cutting good players. Couldn’t be happier to have both players gone.

AB is still on our cap this year.

[Oh wow]

I think there is a key point in this—BeN has played in a era with some great QBs, some of the best ever. Absent Brady, Ben would have at least a couple more SB rings, in my opinion. Would he be top tier then?

Never mind stats (other than wins and losses), Ben clearly has had the “it” factor as a QB and has the two rings, and will be a first ballot HOFer. That’s top tier to me.

This isn’t true.

How many times has the Pats knocked us out of the playoffs with Brady? Twice?

First time was Ben’s rookie year. Ben was terrible in the playoffs his rookie year. We needed the Jets to miss 2 chip shots to advance in OT. I doubt we make the SB or win it the first year even if we didn’t face Brady.

The last time was a few years back. Our O was pretty limited with Bell going down and like Ben said... our WR’s were green and weren’t up to the challenge.

We lost to Tebow. The Ravens. Denver with Payton and that awesome defense.

It’s a team game and some times we had subpar defenses or we had 3rd strong RB’s who fumbled at critical times.

I think injuries to key players have hampered our SB’s more than it being the Brady era.

I doubt we beat that Oakland team who was hosed on the tuck rule if we are being honest about Ben’s play in the playoffs his rookie year. Dude was shook.