Rooney blames Roethlisberger, not Tomlin, for late-season collapse, says Steelers cannot afford the veteran QB with salary-cap problems

The $41 million Steeler problem: Getty Images

… “Is Rooney in Denial?

Did Steelers CEO/President Art Rooney II just throw Ben Roethlisberger under the bus, while concomitantly saying that he would like the QB to finish his career in Pittsburgh?

In short, the Steelers owner realizes that the team is in major trouble because of the reduced salary cap of the NFL, and that it cannot afford to have Roethlisberger return unless significant concessions are made to his contract, which ESPN says is virtually impossible. 

In doing so, Rooney said that the late-season collapse is the fault of the QB and the offense, not his current coach, Mike Tomlin, whose playoff record over the past ten years is 3-5 and who has not won a playoff game in four years. 

After the embarrassing end to the 2020 season with a loss to the previously woeful Cleveland Browns, you would think that the coach is on the hot seat. That is not the case. 

In a virtual zoom meeting with reporters yesterday, Rooney was blunt about Roethlisberger’s contract situation, which is Rooney's fault for signing him to such a deal, though he did not acknowledge that.

First, the QB

Rooney was blunt about the contract situation in which Roethlisberger counts $41 million against the cap,

"I think we've been up front with Ben in letting him know that we couldn't have him back under the current contract," Rooney said. "I think he understands we have some work to do there. We'll have more conversations internally, and we'll have more conversations with Ben, and we'll have to know what the cap number is to finalize some of those decisions."

Brooke Pryor, “Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vows to work with team 

on $41.2M salary-cap hit,” ESPN, January 28, 2021

Rooney was looking worn and haggard and every bit of his 68 years during the zoom meeting, and as ESPN notes, both QB and CEO agree that the contact cannot stand as is,

With the salary cap decreasing because of a drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Roethlisberger's $41.2 million cap hit for next season is untenable, a matter Roethlisberger and team president and CEO Art Rooney II seem to agree on …

To achieve cap relief and give Roethlisberger at least one more season to end on his own terms, the Steelers could ask the quarterback to take a pay cut in the final year of his contract. The Steelers have already prorated $22,250,000 of his contract, leaving $19 million -- $4 million in base salary and a $15 million roster bonus -- to work with in a pay cut or restructure. The likelier option is an extension and restructure that spreads some of the cap hit into the 2022 season.

"I think that those are discussions we'll have with Ben and his representative," Rooney said of possibilities to massage Roethlisberger's contract. "It takes two to figure that out, and whether we can agree with what he wants, we'll just have to see.

Brooke Pryor, “Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger vows to work with team 

on $41.2M salary-cap hit,”   ESPN, January 28, 2021

What is exactly untenable is signing Roethlisberger to another extension as a way out of this mess. Cutting him would cause much less difficulty, and as the Post-Gazette poll indicated, most fans want the team to cut ties with the QB [60 percent].

Not Tomlin’s fault, Rooney says

However, in dealing with the problems, Rooney was clear that the problems that the team faced in losing four of its last five games, including an embarrassing playoff loss to the Browns in the final game, were because of players, not coaching,

In evaluating Mike Tomlin’s 14th season as coach, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II said it’s unfair to judge it based solely on the 48-37 upset loss to the Cleveland Browns in the AFC wild-card round.

Three turnovers in the first quarter led to three touchdowns and a 28-0 deficit for the Steelers. It began when center Maurkice Pouncey’s snap on the first play from scrimmage sailed over quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s head and into the end zone for a fumble that the Browns recovered.

It was the first of five turnovers in the game, the other four coming from Roethlisberger interceptions.

“It’s hard to analyze what we did there in terms of turning the ball over that way. You’re not going to win very many games,” Rooney II said Thursday. 

“I don’t see how you really attribute that to coaching preparation. I think the team went into that game prepared and felt like we were going to win.

“It wasn’t one of those things where we came out flat or anything like that. You just can’t turn the ball over.”

Joe Rutter, “Art Rooney II: Mike Tomlin had Steelers ‘prepared’ heading into

 playoffs vs. Browns,” Tribune-Review, January 28, 2021

Most fans agree that Tomlin deserves another chance after winning 64 percent of his games over the past 15 years. What is untenable for fans is failing to win a playoff game in more than four years. 

Steelers $30 million over the cap

The problems for the Steelers start on the offensive side, and not just with the QB position. They have serious offensive line problems, even with their former All-Pro players Maurkice Pouncey and David DiCastro, both of whom are over the age of 30.

However, signing players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and trying to keep some promising young receivers in the fold may be very challenging,

With the team's salary-cap situation -- the Steelers are estimated to be over by nearly $30 million with 48 players signed, according to ESPN's Roster Management System -- re-signing free agents such as Bud Dupree and JuJu Smith-Schuster will be difficult, if not impossible.

"It's fair to say this will be the most difficult salary-cap challenge that we've had in a long time, maybe ever," Rooney said.

But the first step to figuring out the rest of the roster is to determine Roethlisberger's future.

Asked bluntly whether he wants Roethlisberger to return, Rooney paused, then said he wanted him back but offered no guarantees about the quarterback's future.

"I think we'd like to see Ben back for another year if that can work," he said. "But as we said, there's a lot of work to be done if that can happen; there may need to be decisions on both ends for that to happen."

Brooke Pryor, ESPN, January 28, 2021

Rooney ignored late-season collapse and playoff woes with Tomlin

How Rooney could blame the QB exclusively for the late-season collapse after losing four of five games to some pretty bad teams is what is called “Denial.” An unwillingness to face reality. 

If Tomlin deserves praise for the 11-0 start against a woefully-weak schedule, then he has to face the reality of the Steelers’ playoff record,

The playoff loss was the fifth in the final six games for the Steelers that came after a franchise-record 11-0 start. It was the third playoff loss in a row for Tomlin, whose last postseason win came in the 2016 divisional round at Kansas City.

The last two playoff losses were at home — to Jacksonville and Cleveland, teams that entered the game as heavy underdogs.

Rooney cited the 11-0 start and a return to the top of the AFC North after a two-year absence as check marks weighing in Tomlin’s favor.

“The way we finished was not one of those positives,” Rooney said. “Mike feels as bad about that as any of us, and he is determined to do what we need to do to fight to get back into having another opportunity to win the division and move on.”

Tomlin’s contract was last extended during the 2019 training camp when he was given a one-year extension through 2021 and an option for ’22. 

Joe Rutter, Tribune-Review, January 28, 2021

Mike feels bad about that? Does not sound like accountability. Sounds like “De Nile,” that river in Egypt, which can be a major affliction for a football franchise. 

Rooney thought they had a Super Bowl team

That Denial was evident in some of the assessment he made about the team, though he is right about some injuries hurting the defensive effort,

Rooney said he thought the Steelers had a roster to compete for a Super Bowl championship, pointing out the franchise-record 11-0 start and winning the AFC North title as proof. But he cited other factors such as injuries to Devin Bush and Bud Dupree on defense and a juggled schedule that resulted in short work weeks as reason for the late-season collapse.

“I came into the season thinking we had a strong roster and a team that could compete for a championship. We started off 11-0 and won our division, so a lot of good things,” he said. “But we stumbled at the end, so disappointing in that we thought we had the kind of team that could have and should have gone farther.

“Some of the factors, I think, that went into some of the negative side of the season was inconsistency on offense and really a lack of a running game that contributed to that inconsistency. It was tough to overcome that at times. Obviously, the many schedule changes that we had, it's hard to say what impact that had on us, but I think it did have an impact at one point when we went into that stretch of losing three in a row. 

“And during that stretch, no coincidence that we lost Bud Dupree in that time frame, and losing Bud at that point in the season was a big loss. It's hard to say what all factors were most important.”

Gerry Dulac, “Art Rooney II: Steelers would like Ben Roethlisberger back — 

‘if that can work’,”  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 28, 2021

Conclusion

If Rooney really believes that his team has the makings of a Super Bowl squad like the Chiefs, Bucs, Packers, Bills, and other top teams in the league, then he is really in Denial. He should acknowledge the the 11-0 start was because his team was playing teams that had a collective 38 percent winning percentage in those early games.

In essence, while Roethlisberger says that he does not care about his contract for next year and how much money he makes, it appears that he might become the person who is expendable in these negotiations, not the head coach.