Steelers, Roethlisberger committed to his return

Ben Roethlisberger's return to the Steelers isn't guaranteed just yet, but both he and the team are committed to his return.

The question now is getting his contract to a number both sides can live with that creates enough cap space to make that happen.

Roethlisberger met with team president Art Rooney II on Tuesday and Rooney released a statement Wednesday morning expressing the team's desire to have the veteran quarterback return for a team-record 18th season.

Roethlisberger's agent, Ryan Tollner, meanwhile, told the NFL Network Tuesday that his client remains intent on playing for the Steelers in 2021.

"They want Ben back and will contact me soon to address his cap situation," Tollner said. "As we've shared since the season ended, we are happy to creatively adjust his contract to help them build the best team possible. A year ago, Ben wasn't sure if he could throw again, but he battled back to get 12 wins and the eighth division title of his career. They lost steam down the stretch and that doesn't sit well for him, so the fire burns strong and there is plenty of gas in the tank."

Roethlisberger is currently scheduled to count $41.25 million against the Steelers salary cap in 2021, even though his salary is just $4 million and he's due a $15 million roster bonus on March 19, the third day of the new league year. The reason for that is a contract restructure the Steelers did with the quarterback last offseason to create additional cap space that pushed more money into 2021.

Rooney and GM Kevin Colbert have both publicly said the team can't afford to have Roethlisberger back in 2021 at that cap number, which would be the highest in the NFL.

The Steelers are currently have about $196 million in contracts following the previous retirements of Maurkice Pouncey and Vance McDonald and a restructure of defensive lineman Cam Heyward's contract earlier this week. They can trim as much as $14 million off the contract of Roethlisberger with a simple extension that converts most of the $19 million he is due in 2021 into signing bonus.

The Steelers have 19 players headed toward free agency, including a number of starters on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. That would include linebacker Bud Dupree, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, nose tackle Tyson Alualu, running back James Conner, cornerbacks Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton and offensive linemen Alejandro Villanueva, Matt Feiler and Zach Banner.

The team would like to re-sign at least a few of those players and a Roethlisberger extension would help accomplish that.

If he and the team cannot agree on a contract restructure or extension that is amenable to both sides, the Steelers would save $19 million if the quarterback retires or is released. But he would still count $22.25 million against the team's 2021 salary cap.

Roethlisberger threw 33 touchdown passes last season in his return from a season-ending elbow injury in 2019 that required surgery. The Steelers went 12-3 in his starts in 2020 but faded down the stretch after an 11-0 start and were knocked off in the first round of the playoffs.