Ben Roethlisberger’s $ 41.25million cap was the Steelers’ decision

The 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers salary cap situation is not good at the moment. The Steelers can’t just maintain what they have and comply with the cap by the start of the league year on March 17. Their predicament is not unmanageable, but decisions need to be made when it comes to contracts on whether to play for 2021 or extend them beyond the coming season.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is at the forefront of this issue. According to ESPN’s Field Yates, Roethlisberger is the biggest salary cap of $ 41.25 million reached this season.

Many Steelers fans wonder how Roethlisberger managed to reach the top of the league with his salary cap hit. “How could he do that to the Steelers and put them in such a bad position?”

Honestly, Roethlisberger’s salary cap is inflated the way it is strictly because the Pittsburgh Steelers organization selected to make it so.

Heading into the 2020 season, Ben Roethlisberger was set to hit a salary cap of $ 33.5 million, including $ 12.5 million in dead money from his signing bonus, $ 8.5 million in base salary and $ 12.5 million. millions as a list bonus. Instead, the Steelers restructured Roethlisberger ahead of the 2020 league year. As a reminder, a restructuring doesn’t pay a player more or less, it simply changes when and how they are paid in order to manipulate the salary cap number. . For Roethlisberger, the Steelers converted $ 19.5 million of what would have been his $ 21 million salary into a roster bonus. In doing so, they were able to push back $ 9.75 million for the 2021 season.

Prior to Roethlisberger’s restructuring last season, his salary cap for 2021 would have been $ 31.5 million. That number would have taken Roethlisberger down from the top seven on the above list and Russell Wilson would have taken last place. While Roethlisberger’s cap of $ 31.5 million still would not have been desirable, it would only have carried $ 12.5 million in dead money rather than the $ 22.25 million currently.

The fact that Roethlisberger now counts so much more in the salary cap is not his fault. It was the Steelers who proposed the restructuring to Roethlisberger in order to have more salary cap space for the 2020 season. That number so high for 2021 was not something Roethlisberger had planned to do to the Steelers, but something. something the Steelers were doing for themselves.

So what’s the answer? Is there a way the Steelers can save a little more without pushing the can too far down the road?

The $ 22.25 million dead threshold will still apply to the 2021 salary cap. The decisions the Steelers need to make will be about the remaining $ 19 million Roethlisberger is expected to take this season.

Of course, if Roethlisberger retires or is released, there is the $ 19 million. But there is also another option. If the Steelers extend Rothlisberger for a few more seasons, it could lighten his cap count for 2021 in what appears to be a pivotal year for the NFL.

If I tried to make a deal with Roethlisberger and work on an extension, I would offer him an additional $ 0.5 million which would be paid in 2021 to extend it for two years. Rather than $ 19 million, I would ultimately play Roethlisberger $ 19.5 million, of which $ 1.5 would be his base salary and $ 18 million would be his signing bonus. That would reduce the maximum number of 2020 Steelers by $ 11.5 million and put Roethlisberger below the $ 30 million salary cap reached this year. It would also put $ 6 million in dead money in each of the next two years for the Steelers. Of course, they would have to offer Roethlisberger a base salary over the next two seasons, which I would do in roughly the same range he would earn this season at $ 19 million. That number isn’t something that worries me at the moment, because the Steelers can figure it out, and however they want. If Roethlisberger were to then retire after the 2021 season, he would simply count $ 12 million in dead money against the cap which is sure to rise for 2022. If he were to replay in 2022, his cap would be significantly lower than around $ 25 million. dollars. if he were to earn a $ 19 million base salary / list bonus.

As you can see, the Steelers have options for handling Ben Roethlisberger’s salary going forward. The only question they have to answer is whether they want to expand things or eliminate the huge salary cap in one season in a year when the salary cap is expected to drop. If they do, remember that it was their own decision to make Roethlisberger’s salary cap as high in 2021 based on their previous restructuring decisions.