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NGT: Roethlisberger Back With Steelers

johnnyb : 3/4/2021 1:51 pm
per ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31003873/ben-roethlisberger-signs-pittsburgh-steelers-2021-season
Terms not disclosed.  
johnnyb : 3/4/2021 1:54 pm : link
Curious as to how much his $40 Million was cut, or if it was spread over two years. The Steelers had to get creative with this one. Half of Ben is better than anything they have now.
I  
AcidTest : 3/4/2021 2:01 pm : link
thought he'd be cut, but then the Steelers came out and said they wanted him back. They have nothing at QB behind him.
RE: I  
Big Blue '56 : 3/4/2021 2:03 pm : link
In comment 15166834 AcidTest said:
Quote:
thought he'd be cut, but then the Steelers came out and said they wanted him back. They have nothing at QB behind him.


“They should trade Jones for Ben. That would be a great move for Jints Central.”

-bw in dc
Curious to see how this contract panned out  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:03 pm : link
.
Revised contract should be interesting...  
bw in dc : 3/4/2021 2:10 pm : link
Very surprised the Steelers decided this (it was last week, actually). I would have cut bait.

I have always liked Ben's game, but unless he changes his off-season training habits and realizes he's no longer 25, I think he's very close to tipping over for good...



May have pushed a lot of money into next year.  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:15 pm : link
Ben already has F.U. levels of money in the bank, he doesn't need to play nice. He can dare them to cut him. He's not negotiating from a position of desperation
Terms here  
FranknWeezer : 3/4/2021 2:19 pm : link
Quote:
Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
·
22m
Ben Roethlisberger willingly reduced his pay to $14M from $19M in this final year of his contract and spread the cash payment through 2022, per source. It lowered the cap hit by over $15M, all so the team can make the right moves to be as competitive as possible this season.
RE: Terms not disclosed.  
djstat : 3/4/2021 2:22 pm : link
In comment 15166828 johnnyb said:
Quote:
Curious as to how much his $40 Million was cut, or if it was spread over two years. The Steelers had to get creative with this one. Half of Ben is better than anything they have now.


Ben's Cap number was $41 Million. $4 Million in base salary; 22.250 Million signing bonus proration; and then a $15 Million roster bonus.

If no years were added to the contract, then Ben took a pay cut. If he did not get new years added on, then his cap hit is $22.250 Million left over from previous signing bonuses + whatever his new salary is.
Had no idea spreading cash was a thing  
UConn4523 : 3/4/2021 2:25 pm : link
is this something teams normally do? Seems like a really easy way to move money around.
Sorry  
UConn4523 : 3/4/2021 2:27 pm : link
meant to say spreading to a year in excess of the contract duration
You convert salary to a signing bonus  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:30 pm : link
And spread the hit into the new years of a deal.
Waiting to see what sort of bonuses Ben got  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:31 pm : link
.
RE: You convert salary to a signing bonus  
UConn4523 : 3/4/2021 2:33 pm : link
In comment 15166875 Sneakers O'toole said:
Quote:
And spread the hit into the new years of a deal.


Ahh, I thought he had 1 year left not 2. Makes sense now.
He had one  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:36 pm : link
Now he has a new deal for 2. That's how that works. The player gets paid upfront in bonus cash, cash that originally would have been salary, and part of the hit gets deferred.

Yeah that tweet above is vague  
UConn4523 : 3/4/2021 2:42 pm : link
doesn’t actually say a year was added which is what confused me.

In any case, I would have moved on but it seems like this keeps them from having to reach on a QB right now and/or roll the dice with a different vet while having a SB roster.
He was to make 19 in salary  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 2:47 pm : link
Now hes going to make vet minimum in salary, and get the rest of about 13 mil? ina new signing bonus. The hit from that bonus gets spread out over voidable year, or years? Not sure what they did there yet.

Looks like ben left about 5 million on the table. Nicer guy than I would have been :)
RE: Revised contract should be interesting...  
djm : 3/4/2021 2:55 pm : link
In comment 15166850 bw in dc said:
Quote:
Very surprised the Steelers decided this (it was last week, actually). I would have cut bait.

I have always liked Ben's game, but unless he changes his off-season training habits and realizes he's no longer 25, I think he's very close to tipping over for good...




You're surprised that a team decided to keep an aging but still effective QB?

Teams don't just cut QBs, let alone contending teams, unless the QB is terrible.
Salary cap hit of $27M versus the original $41M  
Rick in Dallas : 3/4/2021 2:59 pm : link
Took a cut of $5 in actual salary
Meant $5M cut in actual salary  
Rick in Dallas : 3/4/2021 3:00 pm : link
...
Ben  
AcidTest : 3/4/2021 3:04 pm : link
has no mobility, which isn't surprising anymore given his age. Pouncey has also retired, so it will be even harder to protect him.
now that I think about it  
djm : 3/4/2021 3:08 pm : link
I am trying to come up with an instance over the years where a good contending team cut a championship caliber QB, even one aging like Ben.

And the only team I can come up with was the 93 (94 off-season) Giants, when they cut Simms.

Chiefs moved on from Smith, but Smith was never in the category of Simms. KC had Mahomes. Giants had Brown.

QBs usually walk away or their contract expires. I am sure I am missing one but you don't see good teams cut their starting QB very often unless there's a hot shot kid who can't sit any longer, waiting in the wings.
even NYG has a fair excuse  
djm : 3/4/2021 3:10 pm : link
even if hindsight proved this to be a mistake. They had BRown. Former high pick.

Pitt has no one on their roster behind Ben. PErhaps they could sign a FA but who? Bridgewater isn't Ben on his best dat. They ain't getting Wilson or Watson without trading away a fortune.

Rock and a hard place. That's why teams dole out big contracts to QBs and that's why teams will cut the QB one year too late rather than one year too soon.
wondering what Fitzpatrick does  
UConn4523 : 3/4/2021 3:19 pm : link
he made a lot of sense if they cut Ben, although he may have been cost prohibitive.
RE: Terms here  
giants#1 : 3/4/2021 3:22 pm : link
In comment 15166862 FranknWeezer said:
Quote:


Quote:


Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
·
22m
Ben Roethlisberger willingly reduced his pay to $14M from $19M in this final year of his contract and spread the cash payment through 2022, per source. It lowered the cap hit by over $15M, all so the team can make the right moves to be as competitive as possible this season.



Nice PR spin from his agent!
RE: RE: Terms not disclosed.  
giants#1 : 3/4/2021 3:26 pm : link
In comment 15166867 djstat said:
Quote:
In comment 15166828 johnnyb said:


Quote:


Curious as to how much his $40 Million was cut, or if it was spread over two years. The Steelers had to get creative with this one. Half of Ben is better than anything they have now.



Ben's Cap number was $41 Million. $4 Million in base salary; 22.250 Million signing bonus proration; and then a $15 Million roster bonus.

If no years were added to the contract, then Ben took a pay cut. If he did not get new years added on, then his cap hit is $22.250 Million left over from previous signing bonuses + whatever his new salary is.


Yea, his "salary" went from $19M ($4M base + $15M roster bonus) to $14M and based on the updated OverTheCap #s, they're assuming vet min base salary (~$1M) with the remaining $13M basically paid as a signing bonus. Reduces his 2021 cap hit to ~$26M, but he'll count as $10M in dead money next year.


Link - ( New Window )
RE: He had one  
giants#1 : 3/4/2021 3:29 pm : link
In comment 15166881 Sneakers O'toole said:
Quote:
Now he has a new deal for 2. That's how that works. The player gets paid upfront in bonus cash, cash that originally would have been salary, and part of the hit gets deferred.


No, they added automatically voidable years to the end (per OTC), which is rare but becoming more common. Essentially, Big Ben is automatically "cut" at the end of the 2021 league year. In this case, they basically guarantee all of Ben's money (his $15M roster bonus was not gtd, not sure about his base salary prior to this).
Im fully aware that it's voidable  
Sneakers O'toole : 3/4/2021 3:31 pm : link
Being voidable is the whole point
RE: even NYG has a fair excuse  
bw in dc : 3/4/2021 3:39 pm : link
In comment 15166909 djm said:
Quote:
even if hindsight proved this to be a mistake. They had BRown. Former high pick.

Pitt has no one on their roster behind Ben. PErhaps they could sign a FA but who? Bridgewater isn't Ben on his best dat. They ain't getting Wilson or Watson without trading away a fortune.

Rock and a hard place. That's why teams dole out big contracts to QBs and that's why teams will cut the QB one year too late rather than one year too soon.


You are forgetting they have Hopkins... ;)

It's not their nature, but I would have gone into the "Take for Sam (Howell)" mode if I was Pittsburgh for 2021.

They have to be thinking their D is Super Bowl caliber (which a case can be made) and it's worth the stretch for one more year to see Matt Canada can get Ben on one more magic carpet ride...
No Great Surprise  
varco : 3/4/2021 4:32 pm : link
Teams which are seemingly in "cap hell" always find a way to get it done. Just a game of numbers, which can be manipulated to get things accomplished. I really pay little attention to the "cap space" lists, because a clever team can get their business done by using the rules. Clearly, they wanted Ben back and they made it happen.
djm  
SLIM_ : 3/4/2021 7:47 pm : link
Marino comes to mind (along with Simms).

I think it usually comes down to the team and the player come to the realization that it is over. Sometimes the team decides first and the 'decision' by the player follows and he retires prior to being cut or not re-signed. In the case of the Steelers, while they are one of the best run franchises they never planned for life after Ben so now they have to march out this guy who is significantly limited at this point.

They have a lot of FA's  
Lines of Scrimmage : 3/5/2021 8:53 am : link
and I think a few are OL. Seems like a pretty easy scenario. We need to pay you less to protect you.

Tomlin has been a good coach for them. But he is coming up on 15 years so I wonder if this is the end for both of them if they falter again.
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