There's a very real possibility we've seen the last of Ben Roethlisberger in the NFL.
The longtime Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback seemed somber after his team fell in the Super Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs to the Cleveland Browns. Roethlisberger is under contract next season, but he's dealt with some injuries over the years and will be 39-years-old when next season starts. It's feasible that he'll call it a career this offseason.
As of now, though, his head coach isn't sure what the plan is.
“I don’t have a clear assessment of the overall impact of the cap ramifications, so I might not have a direct answer to your question. But I think it’s reasonable to assume that there’s a chance that he’s going to be back, certainly,” Mike Tomlin said during his press conference Wednesday, via ProFootballTalk. “The depth of the ramifications of the cap discussions, I am not privy to as I sit here right now.”
Roethlisberger is in line to make $41.25 million next season.
Mason Rudolph, Josh Dobbs and Duck Hodges are the quarterbacks behind Roethlisberger, none of which have shown much potential at the NFL level. If Roethlisberger leaves, there will be a big void to fill this offseason in Pittsburgh.