Art Rooney II says they can't have Ben Roethlisberger back at his current cap hit and he knows that

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Steelers president Art Rooney II spoke with the Pittsburgh media today on a myriad of topics surrounding the team. The big elephant in the room this offseason is Ben Roethlisberger's $41.25 million cap hit, which is the largest cap hit in the league in 2021.

Rooney told reporters that Roethlisberger wants to come back and has told the team that, but Rooney said they can't do it at his current salary and Roethlisberger knows that.

Ben would either have to take a pay cut or the Steelers would extend his contract in order to lower his cap hit. With Roethlisberger turning 39 in March, it's uncertain how much more he has left, so the Steelers will have to be careful in adding those future years so it doesn't hurt them down the road with an excessive amount of dead money when it's possible that Roethlisberger won't even be on the team in 2022 or 2023.

Rooney also said they owe it to Roethlisberger for him to write his own end of his story.