Ben Roethlisberger will walk into his 18th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers once the 2021 NFL season gets underway. All 18 seasons he has been with the Pittsburgh Steelers organization and he felt he needed to help the Steelers with their cap situation during the 2021 offseason. So he renegotiated his contract to help save the Steelers some money so they could sign certain key players. The problem is his deal with the Steelers is only a one-year deal and no one knows what will happen with Ben Roethlisberger after the 2021 season ends.
This will be the first season for the Steelers organization where they are not sure what will happen with the quarterback situation during the season and after. It is a feeling the organization has not felt in 18 years, but Ben Roethlisberger is ready to give it a go and hopefully hold the Lombardi Trophy by the end of the season. The goal for the Steelers right now is to just win. There are no other goals.
Ben is expected to play under center much more during the 2021 season and he will be in a new offensive scheme with a new offensive coordinator (Matt Canada). The 18-year veteran felt the need to show up right away to voluntary OTAs and start learning the new system. Plus he will have a new best friend in the backfield so he wanted to start working with Najee Harris right away too.
Roethlisberger on Matt Canada's Offense: "Coach Canada's offense is one that hopefully will be a good one," Roethlisberger said, "and we need to be able to execute the plays that he calls, and hopefully we'll be better on offense this year than we were last year. He's got more motions, but I feel like that's where the NFL is kind of going right now. I can go under center, we'll be under the gun, we'll move. We'll throw a lot of different looks and schemes at people and see what looks."
Not only does Ben Roethlisberger have to embrace the new offensive scheme in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers will also have to get used to being told that Roethlisberger is 'washed up.' Ben knows what the media has been saying about him lately and he feels the 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers are being overlooked.
Ben realizes the Steelers are going to have a running game in 2021 and now they will not be one-dimensional on the offensive side of the ball. In 2020 the Steelers went undefeated as a one-dimensional team without a running game. Just imagine what they will look like now with a dominant running back in the backfield?
I hope the media continues to overlook the Pittsburgh Steelers because the organization seems to play better when they're counted out on the football field. When Ben Roethlisberger and Najee Harris start meshing on the football field they should be one of the best duos in the NFL and I can't wait to see it because of how atrocious the running game has been in Pittsburgh throughout the years.