One last ride. One more chance to give the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh a 7th Super Bowl title. Win or lose, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will hang it up after the 2021 season right?
Not so fast.
Steelers Fan insider Ed Bouchette of The Athletic says if Big Ben has a good season in 2021, what’s not to think he won’t come in 2022?
“I keep saying this, if Ben has a great season you think he’s not coming back in 2022,” said Bouchette. “This is not a one and done tour de force of Ben saying goodbye around the league, this is another year and if he does great, I think he’s gonna want to come back and they’ll probably want him back.”
Bouchette adds they extended backup quarterback Mason Rudolph because they didn’t have any QBs signed for 2022 and if Ben does retire, they’ll give Rudolph a chance.
The narrative, as least in the media, has been that 2021 will be the last ride for Roethlisberger. He’ll be 39 and obviously if he comes back in 2022, he’d be 40.
Bouchette believes that this past weekend’s draft was a normal one for the Steelers and not necessarily one to load up on the offensive to give the Steelers an opportunity to win a Super Bowl this year but into the future.
So with a new-look offensive line, a new running back and a new offensive coordinator will Roethlisberger need to put in more work if the offensive is going to be successful this season?
Bouchette says he has no idea what Ben will do but adds without practicing Wednesday, “whatever he’s been doing, he’s been doing pretty it pretty well, that’s all I’m gonna say. I have no idea what kind of time he puts in.”