Steelers president/owner Art Rooney II was asked about QB Ben Roethlisberger‘s asking price likely increasing after a very productive 2014 season.
Rooney said that he considers this to be a good problem to have, rather than trying to sign a quarterback that’s coming off of a poor season to a long-term contract.
“I will take that problem,” owner Art Rooney II, via Steelers.com. “I’m happy to have a player who had a great year. I would rather have that situation than the reverse. I’m not complaining about it. It is what it is. We will just have to deal with the circumstances as they present themselves in this offseason.”
Rooney also mentioned that he would like to see an agreement in place this offseason.
“Obviously we would like to get it done this offseason, and I think it’s fair to say the sooner the better, but I’m not going to put any particular time frame on these things,” Rooney said. “It’s kind of hard to predict how long it takes to get something done, but we certainly want to get something done this offseason. That’s for sure. It takes two to tango when it comes to contract negotiations. I’m not expecting a problem, but again, I hate to put predictions on those kinds of things.”
Roethlisberger, 32, still has one year remaining on his eight-year, $102 million contract that includes $33.2 million guaranteed. He is set to earn a base salary of $11.6 million in 2015, which is a far cry from the type of money less accomplished quarterbacks are making right now.
This season, Roethlisberger threw for a league-leading 4,952 yards while completing 67.1 percent of his passes to go along with 32 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 3 quarterback in the league out of 39 qualifying players.
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