INDIANAPOLIS -- Quarterbacks will take center stage Friday at the NFL Scouting Combine and with Ben Roethlisberger now 35, many would think the Steelers would be very interested in keeping a close eye on that position, which is considered one of the deepest in recent years in overall talent.
But with Roethlisberger telling teammates he wants to play at least three more seasons, the Steelers' thinking on the position has evolved from what it might have been a year ago at this time when the franchise quarterback was talking openly about considering retirement.
So despite the fact there are as many as six quarterbacks looked at as possible first-round picks in this draft, the team isn't quite as intent on finding Roethlisberger's potential replacement as it might have once been. But the Steelers also are not going to completely ignore the position should a potential star fall into their lap as happened in 2005 when Aaron Rodgers fell to the Packers with the 24th pick in the first round.
Green Bay still had Brett Favre on its roster. Even though Favre would turn 36 that year, the Packers took Rodgers in the first round and sat him on the bench for three years behind their future Hall of Fame quarterback.
"It doesn’t change our evaluation process because how many years he decides to play, who knows? If you draft a guy then maybe in four years that kid is ready to play," Kevin Colbert said. "That does not dismiss Joshua Dobbs or Landry Jones with us either because those guys are still young players as well. So, you never dismiss any position because if you say you are not going to take a position and a player is available to you that you didn’t project to be available at a certain pick then you are going to make the pick regardless of the position."
The Steelers selected Dobbs in the fourth round of last year's draft to be the backup behind Roethlisberger and Jones, their No. 2 quarterback. Dobbs has three years remaining on his rookie contract, while Jones, now 28, signed a two-year deal prior to last season and will count $2.2 million against the team's salary cap this season.
Besides, this is a team with some legitimate needs at inside linebacker and free safety. Once ineffective starter Mike Mitchell is released at a salary cap savings of $6.3 million, the Steelers might not feel capable of taking a quarterback and ignoring legitimate needs.
"We’ll never eliminate too many positions. You can never have enough good players at any position," Colbert said. "You may have a Pro Bowler and if you can get another potential Pro Bowler, great, you better take him. If you pass him to take a player, guys like to use the word need, you are probably going to make a huge mistake and we try to avoid that. Again, if they are close you are always going to take the player that you might need at a position."
With the salary cap what it is, it also is unlikely the Steelers would take a quarterback this year and allow him to sit for the next few years behind Roethlisberger, wasting a potential cheap starter on the bench at a position where the going rate now for star players starts at $20 to $25 million per season. Allowing a rookie quarterback taken in the first round to sit for three seasons would mean the Steelers would have to make a decision regarding whether they pick up his fifth-year option without having seen him be the starter.
Roethlisberger has two years remaining on his contract for which he counts $23.2 million per season in each year. The Steelers would like to work out an extension with their franchise quarterback that would both give him the additional year or years he wants to play while also giving the team some financial flexibility not only this year, but in future years, as well.
"We know Ben is a franchise quarterback. Ben is a Hall-of-Fame quarterback," Colbert said. "We want Ben to have whatever years we have left with him. We want him to be the best and we hope there is more than year to year. (So) that he can go beyond the contract that he has."