PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – A former general manager with the Buffalo Bills and former member of the Steelers front office. Doug Whaley has his thoughts of what should happen with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
"Give Ben the keys to the castle," Whaley told the Fan Morning Show Wednesday. "Have him run the offense totally. Think about it, when we go up-tempo that's when we've had the most success."
You wonder how realistic this would be given they brought in a new offensive coordinator even when Ben was in the prime of his career. Part of Todd Haley's job was to gain more control of the offense.
The other reason Whaley believes you do this. That way, as Steelers management, you feel you gave your Hall of Famer every chance to have a successful season.
"At the end of the year, you can't say we didn't do everything for you," Whaley told 93.7 The Fan. "Didn't send you out with the most respect."
Whaley says part of that freedom is you tell Roethlisberger this is his final year with the team. You sell offensive coordinator Matt Canada he can learn from what happens. Then in 2022, you roll out Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph to compete for the starting job. If they are not good, you get your quarterback with a high draft pick.
"Is Ben ever going to be the Ben we knew from before, no," Whaley said. "He's shot. In watching that game (Sunday against Cincinnati), I can see his mind saying 'let's do this', but his body is two steps behind."
The former Bills GM also brought up a scenario few have. Whaley said if Roethlisberger plays better as the season goes on. You could trade him. He believes there would be interest by a team with all of the ingredients around them but an experienced quarterback. A team, and he mentioned New England, that believes they just need someone to make a few, timely throws.
Whaley says the Steelers have three more games to make strides or you need to make changes.
"You have to the bye week," Whaley said. "After a while, especially when you hear comments from a Tyler Boyd, who is from Pittsburgh. At the bye week, we have to have a come to Jesus moment that we have to have some pride. We have to change something up."
"What do we have to lose. We know the outcome if we keep doing it this way. Let's change something up, be it system, personnel, whatever. We have to do something because we will lose the respect of the fan base and the National Football League."
Where the Steelers are at is not a surprise to Whaley. He says it's just tough to win every year in the NFL. So few teams do it in a salary cap world. The system is stacked again successful teams. There is one axiom that rings true for Whaley.
"Football is an easy game if you have a quarterback," Whaley said. "That hard part about football is finding that quarterback."
