Ben Roethlisberger's days in Pittsburgh appear numbered because of Steelers' salary cap problems. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Takeaways from NFL news and notes while the Browns wait for J.J. Watt’s team choice …
The clock is ticking on Big Ben.
Yes, Ben Roethlisberger, deposed nemesis of the Browns, appears to be on his way out as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Roethlisberger, 39, has stated that he wants to return for one more season and didn’t “care 'bout my pay at all this year!” But the Steelers are starting to sound as if they prefer to move on.
Roethlisberger is due $19 million in salary in 2021, but his salary cap hit, based on past extensions, is a highly prohibitive $41.2 million. According to Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com, even if Roethlisberger agreed to a monumental pay cut to the veteran NFL minimum of $1.075 million, Ben’s cap number would only be reduced to $23.325 million.
The Steelers are upwards of $30 million above the estimated salary cap of $185 million. So reducing Ben’s cap number by about $18 million is tantamount to throwing two deck chairs off the Titanic.
Could the Steelers compete for the playoffs with Ben at age 39 and a reduced roster as a result of free agent losses and no room to replace them? Maybe.
The alternative is handing the reins to Mason Rudolph, who had his best career game in that 24-22 loss to the Browns in Game 16.
The fact that Rudolph is entering the final year of his contract must be a consideration, too. The Steelers won’t know if Rudolph can handle the job full time – even as a transition quarterback – unless they play him over an extended time. Giving the reins to Rudolph might result in coach Mike Tomlin’s first losing season as Steelers coach.
Here’s the kicker: If Roethlisberger retires, or is released, he still counts $22.25 million against the Steelers’ cap.
“Hopefully there's a way that we can try to figure out and do what's best for the organization and do what's best for Ben,” GM Kevin Colbert said to media on Wednesday. “Hopefully he'll be able to see that and feel the same way we do. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, not only with Ben, with the whole unrestricted free-agent class and our whole cap situation as well.”
So it is quite possible that after tormenting the Browns for 17 seasons, during which he won 24 times, lost two and tied one, that Roethlisberger’s last game against the Browns will go down as a four-interception, one-fumble stink bomb in a humiliating 48-37 loss in an AFC wild card game, after which Roethlisberger shed tears.
Ding dong, the witch indeed is dead.
OBJ trade speculation
The cottage industry known as Odell Beckham Jr. trade rumors is revving up again.
ESPN’s Jeff Darlington has speculated that Beckham’s close relationship with Tom Brady could result in a trade to the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo has opined that the Browns “will listen” to trade offers, but no one “is knocking down the door.”
Some perspective:
*Beckham is recovering from reconstructive knee surgery to repair a torn ACL. Browns GM Andrew Berry has reported that Beckham’s rehab is going well and he is expected to be ready for the start of the 2021 season.
*Beckham’s injury triggered a guarantee of $12.791 million on his scheduled 2021 salary of $14.5 million.
*In my 30+ years of reporting on the NFL and the Browns, I can’t recall a player being traded after ACL surgery before he returned to the field.
Yes, the Browns have a quandary in that Beckham’s salary cap figure is $15.75 million and Jarvis Landry’s is $14.753 million. Only one other pair of receiver teammates have a higher combined cap figure – the Los Angeles Chargers’ Keenan Allen ($15.7 million) and Mike Williams ($15.68 million).
It doesn’t make much sense for the Browns to devote such high cap figures to receivers when they essentially are a run-oriented team. I mean, they have repeatedly said that is their offensive identity.
But unless Beckham asks for a trade to Tampa Bay and Brady vouches for his team’s financial risk if Beckham doesn’t completely recover, I think the Browns will have to take their medicine for the 2021 season and keep both players at their present contract figures.
They can’t ask Beckham to take less than he is guaranteed, and they surely can’t ask Landry to take a pay cut.
Let’s put it another way: If Berry can reduce the cap numbers of either player, he takes the early lead in executive-of-the-year balloting.
Quarterback babble
*Obviously, there is not much of a trade market for Carson Wentz.
*The quarterback dominoes will fall only when Deshaun Watson is moved by the Texans.
*It appears Carolina may be the most aggressive pursuer of Watson.
*The 49ers’ decision on Jimmy Garoppolo may have the biggest impact on the 2021 NFL season.