Addressing The "Trade Ben Roethlisberger" Talk; Sean Spence Put On IR

Updated 11/17/13
by Jayden Matthews

Mid-season is upon us and things aren't exactly what we'd have expected in the City of Bridges. To the degree that many fans are ready go to one of them and jump off. Especially regarding her favorite son and quarterback. 

Earlier in the season, we at If It Ain’t Steel had decided we weren’t going to unnecessarily defend said quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger, because of his play. And frankly, he hasn't deserved it. Big Ben has played nowhere near to the best of his ability and at times has resembled some guy we simply are not used to watching. What's more is he will be the first to admit that. So why defend his play? 

But what has me angered and therefore the reason for writing this is that some fans are calling for him to be benched. Further than that, more than a few are saying the Steelers should not extend their two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback and even trade him. Now, we wrote a parody blog in the offseason about trading Big Ben, but...

What are you people thinking???

I was born after the Terry Bradshaw, Steel Curtain, four Super Bowl-winning run of the 1970's. When I was born, frankly, the Steelers were not that good. But that happens when players get old, new players come in, coaching staffs change, front office personnel change, etc... When I realized what football even was, despite their not being very good, I chose to be a Steelers fan. They were not forced on me, even though my dad was a true blue, diehard Steelers fan, as was most of my family. I chose to be a fan, again, even though they weren’t winning championships.

The first Super Bowl that I, myself, can remember was when Larry Brown became Neil O’Donnell’s favorite target - the problem was just that Brown played for the Cowboys. Sorry for the bad flashback, but, if you're like me, you probably still ruminate over it knowing it's the reason we don’t have seven Lombardi trophies. 

But that is my first recollection of a championship caliber team, and the Steelers did not return to their again until 2005, after they drafted Big Ben. There were AFC Championships during that time, but no big dances.

The Steelers drafted Big Ben in 2004 and I was very happy because I had followed him in college and I knew he could be that guy to get them back to glory. He did not let me down, either. He has led them to the promised land three times in his first 10 years under center, winning twice. His play, capped by the greatest Super Bowl-winning drive in NFL history, in SB 43 should've earned him at least co-MVP also. 

This season, however, Big Ben has hardly looked like that championship-winning quarterback. The Steelers are having one of the worst seasons on record for this storied franchise. Is he the problem? Maybe, but he is not the entire problem, a subject which will be addressed again over the next few articles. 

Big Ben, though, has been turning the ball over a lot this season, throwing interceptions and fumbling. The last time he turned the ball over this much was in 2006. Is this on him? Yes and no. Some of it is that he is getting hit often because the offensive line forgot how to block, some of it is on the receivers not running the right routes and some are definitely on Big Ben. He hasn’t been securing the ball the way he should, has sometimes been reckless with it or has simply been inaccurate. Again, he will admit to all of this.

But now fans have it in their heads that not extending Ben or trading him is what's needed. "Just cut/trade him and move on." Their reasoning being the Steelers' Salary Cap issues, saying the team would be better off not extending him. Well, those saying that didn’t do their homework. 

Trading Big Ben would not help the Steelers cap-wise. Any team that he would be traded to would only be on the hook for his contract, not the money that was pushed back due to restructuring. Trading Big Ben would actually put the Steelers in a bigger hole than what they are already in cap wise because of the dead money hit they would take. 

Right now, the Steelers are $1.65 million under the Salary Cap and approximately $3-$4 million over the cap for 2014. Yes, players will be cut at the end of the season and contracts will be renegotiated to get under the Cap. But, if they would take that extra step and trade Big Ben they would take a $18-$24 million dead money hit against the cap, basically meaning they'd be working with only a $100 million Cap. So how is that helping the Steelers? 

(UPDATE: According to Ian Whetstone, whom we often reference, the Steelers would actually take a $13.59 million Salary Cap hit, and by extending him, the Steelers would only save $5.3 million. I unfortunately went elsewhere for the Cap information and was incorrectly informed. The fault is my own. In fact, Jayden had initially told me that the dead money hit was closer to $14 million...I really hate it when she's right.)

Are you comfortable with having an approximate $110 million Cap? That ties up money that can be used in signing and re-signing players that they need. Is there a solution? Why yes, there is. 

Rip up his current contract and redo  it overall, which in effect turns his old agreement into a new one, and of course extend him. That would do away with the dead money hit, his massive salary cap hit, etc... The beautiful thing of that is that the Steelers still have their franchise quarterback. Can that be done? Yes, it can. 

The New England Patriots did that very thing with Tom Brady, doing away with his old contract and it's liabilities and most of his salary was paid as a bonus which doesn't count against the Cap. - http://tinyurl.com/k72gq7m

In doing this the Steelers would not only save money but it would also allow them two years to clear up other money issues, freeing up money under the cap allowing them to re-sign their free agents and possibly sign other players. This is what I firmly believe will happen, because Big Ben has shown, including on his radio show this week, that he is all about the team and will do what is needed to help the team. - http://tinyurl.com/ljeju3q

The only drawback is the possibility of a per year salary being around $20 million. We'll be getting back to that soon enough.

Another thing ones have thrown around is that Big Ben is too old and needs to go. I say hogwash! Big Ben will be 32 at the start of 2014. Yes, he takes more hits than most QB’s, but a lot of that goes back to his style of play too. But to say he is getting old is funny because I don’t think Peyton Manning or Brady got that memo. 

If Ben at 31 is old, what would you call Brady and Manning? “Grandpas”? It's just insane to even utter those words and no need to further address any of that nonsense.

Look, I get that fans are frustrated, but to want to cut a guy that has never had a losing season is ludicrous. Especially considering he is fourth in win percentage all-time among NFL quarterbacks. 

All he does is win and you want him gone? You are willing to throw that all away and take a chance on an unproven guy that may or may not be the answer? Just ask Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, because he agrees with me. - http://tinyurl.com/ku7rgze

As a way of putting a bow on this, allow me to illustrate it this way: Cliff Stoudt, Bubby Brister, Jim Miller, Mike Tomzack, blah, blah, "we suck at QB", blah...

~

TIDBITS: Inside linebacker Sean Spence has been placed on IR. Can't agree with Gerry Dulac’s take, though, that the Steelers should've kept Spence on 53 for practice time. It's still a waste of a roster spot and would affect player(s) evaluation as season ends, or would be a hindrance if multiple players were to go down. It doesn’t matter whether or not he's gonna start in 2014, either, because he'll have ALL of the offseason to prepare (eligible for all camps because of injury).

“@MarkKaboly_Trib: On bright side for Sean Spence, at least Steelers thought enough of him to put him on IR rather than outright release him. Had both options”

"@MarkKaboly_Trib: Actually, Sean Spence not put on IR. Kept on PUP. Either way, season is over. Just semantics."

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STEELERS PRACTICE REPORT: 

Ike Taylor and Vince Williams did not practice. David DeCastro and Markus Wheaton practiced.

Big Ben Snubbed

Recently, the NFL Network's Top 100 Players list named Ben Roethlisberger as the 41st best player in the NFL, and a very beautiful and intelligent woman wrote a mini-blog/rant stating her feelings regarding this and postulating that the ranking was way too low. Is it? Let's take a look.
    Roethlisberger, the 29-yr old Steelers quarterback, m...ade an instant impact in the NFL when he guided his team to a 15-1 record, with he himself having a 13-0 rookie record-unprecedented in NFL history, and an appearance in the AFC championship game that year. From 2004 on, "Big Ben" became one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and when the game was on the line the Steelers were a good bet to win the game. A career .631 completion percentage shows that Roethlisberger is an efficient quarterback, but the numbers only tell half of the story. Big Ben has a TD:INT ratio of 144:86 for his career, good if not very good, and boasts similar stats across the board for his career. His stats for the 2010 season were even better as he had a 17:5 ratio of TD:INT in 12 games (which would average out to 21:7 over 16 games). Let's look past the numbers, though, and find the reasons why Big Ben is to be considered as one of the best quarterback in the NFL.
    Fans (mainly of other teams) make too much of sexual assault allegations against Roethlisberger—he is a football player, and people pay to watch him on the field, not off of it. So we're not even gonna talk about SkanksAreUs.com past this point. Ok? We good? You, in the back row, we good? A'ight... Let's take a look at the QBs in front of him and recount their attributes and the reasons they're where they are: Tom Brady has cemented himself atop the list with his "Super" success, and rightly so. Ok, I've said enough about him. (blech...I need a wet nap for me and my keyboard) Aaron Rodgers doesn't yet have the body of work of some of the others, but his value, worth, and prowess are unquestionable. There isn't anything on the field he can't do. Go ahead, name something...I'll wait. Thought so. I truly believe he will most likely see another Ring on his finger before all is said and done. Peyton Manning has won one Super Bowl, has been to another, and still has gaudy numbers so he still has enough cache to keep him at #3. I will admit, though, that he has become less clutch over the last couple of years and is facing OLine and potential WR problems this year. So... That addresses the ones in front of Ben as far as this writer sees it. The NFL Network, though, sees it differently. Why? Do other QBs have other things in their favor? Does it even matter? Let's look now at the other QBs listed and at some of the reasonings tossed about regarding why Big Ben may have been rated low.
     Some have said that Roethlisberger's Super Bowls can be attributed to great defense, but I would argue that the Colts and Saints played damn good defense on their way to giving Manning and Brees their first and only titles. The stats weren't 1976-Steelers-Defense-esque, but both D's were deadly at takeaways, especially when absolutely needed. Yet Roethlisberger has two Super Bowl rings, more than any other quarterback above him on the Top 100 list except for he whom I won't name twice in one article. So the NFL Network is trying to say that they'd rather put Philip Rivers under center than Roethlisberger, which makes no sense since Rivers has no Rings nor has he even made it to an AFC championship game. NFL, you're trying to say that you'd rather have Rivers, who has never been clutch in the big games, to lead you to victory in the fourth quarter? A QB whose battle cry is less "Cowboy Up!" and more "Reverse Cowgirl"? You'd rather have Drew Brees, who couldn't keep the ball out of the opposition's hands last year (22 INTs)? He surrendered more balls than the Village People and Queen put together. You'd rather have Michael Vick, who has never even won a Super Bowl? I won't say anything further about Vick, though. I've dogged him enough. It can't be right, but there is the Top 100 list, telling us that it's so. Ridiculous.
    Roethlisberger has a patch-work offensive line outside of Maurkice Pouncey, yet he finds a way to evade defenders, throw passes from every body angle possible and make every throw imaginable. The bottom line with Roethlisberger is that he always finds a way. So, yeah, that beautiful and intelligent creature I mentioned at the beginning of the article was right, Ben not only got robbed, but he got disrespected too.

Big Ben Not Only Got Snubbed, He Got Disrespected

Ok I have a gripe. Was watching the replay of NFL Networks Top 100 Players last night. Ben was 41. So I now will not watch another one of those shows because that is proof , that list is a joke. For Michael Vick and Phillip "Puss face" Rivers to be ahead of Ben on that list . IT'S A JOKE. Micheal Vick has one good season , but really what else has ...he done. Same with Rivers, yes he can get to the playoffs. and beat Peyton Manning on a consistent basis , But Ben beats Rivers on a consistent basis. So will Rivers be higher than Peyton. UH HELL NO, but he is higher than Ben and that is a joke. Yes, Rivers can put up big numbers, but you know what so can Ben and Ben wins when it counts. How many shiny pretty rings does Rivers have? Umm...None! How many AFC Championships does Rivers have? Again, zero. I'm sorry but I know they go on Fantasy stats and spectacular play and things of that nature to make these lists, but anyone with a brain knows, and the experts on the reaction show agreed, BEN SHOULD HAVE BEEN HIGHER ON THAT LIST!!  I know a lot of these so called experts like to gripe and complain because Ben holds onto the ball too long.  When Ben does that, I admit that I hold my breath because I know that somehting big may happen.   Look at Super Bowl 43.  That last drive was proof why  Ben is a winner and knows how to get it done. 
 Yes Vick scrambles and does things with his feet. But Ben does too.   Ben may not look as speedy as Vick.  but he still gets it done.  Rivers can throw a good long ball.  But so can my man Ben.  Wasn't Wallace the reciever that had the most catches over 20 yrds this past season that went for TD's.  Last time I checked Mike Wallace doesn't play for the San Diego Super Chargers.  He wears the Black and Gold.  So I call that pretty dynamic and pretty spectacular.  Even the two Rookies Brown and Sanders got in on the action.  Those kids had good seasons.   And you know why because Ben isnt an all about me and one reciever kind of QB he is an equal oppurtunity passer. 
The experts go on about  Bens play in the 3 SB's he was in.  Yes SB 40 and 45 was not one of Bens best games.  But Bens play to get them to those  SB's was.  And I am sick of him not getting credit for his play in SB 43.  Again I go back to that last drive.  Who do you think was slinging the ball that led to what will go down as probably one of the best catches in SB history.   That was Ben.   On the Reaction show.  Ratchicken fans was going off about Ben should have been higher and anyone that is a Steelers fan knows that is a sign of respect when the Rats fans are even defending the Big Guy.    Because they  hate Ben as much as we  hate Ray Lewis.   But I look at the bigger picture.  The Steelers between Bradshaw and until we got Ben was not as good as a whole. Most fans will agree.  We endured the almost getting theres and we were so close kind of seasons.    But since they drafted Ben in 04, you know what they have not had a losing season.  They have been to the playoffs all but 2 seasons in his 7 year  so far career and won the AFC Championship 3 times and won 2 SB's .  There is only one other current QB that has that kind of impressive resume and that is Tom Brady.  I look for Ben to win more championships because lets face it .  He is just hitting his prime and his play the past two seasons has been very good and getting better.  And has not played in his last SB.  But my question is will Rivers or  Vick ever play in a SB.  Time will tell.  

So that is my gripe, Yes again we Steeler fans have to endure our QB being disrespected .  Was I shocked .  NO.  But it will be so much sweeter when again Ben ,  is winning games and championships and the others well they are just fantasy darlings and nothing more.  See More