Art Rooney II: Steelers Hopeful for Better Season from Ben Roethlisberger in 2021
The Steelers made re-working the contract of starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a priority for the team this offseason, getting a new deal done with him in advance of the free agency period.
Steelers president Art Rooney II talked about the importance of getting that new deal done with Roethlisberger during a question-and-answer sessions with fans last week, and said that the team’s braintrust feels that the 38-year-old Roethlisberger can be better in 2021 than he was in 2020.
“We wanted Ben back,” said Rooney. “The key to it really was to be able to restructure his contract in a way that allowed us to keep Ben and really be able to sign some other players.
“Ben cooperated with that, and was willing to make some changes in his contract, and that allowed us to keep him on the team this year, which was always our goal.
“Look, I thought Ben had a very good year last year for somebody that was coming off arm surgery. Hopefully he will have an even better year this year with another year under his belt in terms of recovering from that arm surgery. It was a very serious surgery, and really, we were uncertain how well he’d be able to recover from it. He did a great job rehabbing and we are excited to have him back for this season.”
Statistically, Roethlisberger saw a significant downturn in 2020. His 3,803 passing yards represents his lowest total in a full-season as a starter since 2012 and his 6.3 yards per attempt was the lowest of his pro career.
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