Will Steelers let Ben Roethlisberger play contract out, then franchise him?

Ben Roethlisberger’s camp approached the Steelers last summer about an extension to no avail and it’s no secret that the Rooney’s are not jumping up and down with joy at the prospect of dishing out another $100 million dollar contract.

The belief from the Roethlisberger camp for a while now has been that an extension should happen this summer but do the Steelers feel any urgency to extend him anytime soon?

The buzz in Steelers circles is that the team prefers to possibly wait at least a year on the extension front, maybe longer. Roethlisberger has two years left on his contract with cap hits of $18.985 million in 2014 and $18.395 million in 2015. Roethlisberger is due base salaries of $12.1 million in 2014 and $11.6 million in 2015.

One thought in Steelers circles is the Drew Brees model. Let him play his contract out, then franchise him and go from there on an extension, a time when Roethlisberger would be 34 that off-season.

If the Steelers went that route, it would surely alienate Roethlisberger but from a business standpoint it could be the best move as any new deal for Roethlisberger now is expected to cost at least $60 million in guaranteed money.

One source close to Roethlisberger told me mid-season that Ben feels he has at least five to six high level seasons left in him. Roethlisberger turns 32 in March.

Art Rooney II spoke with the print media today and said the intention is to keep Ben past his current contract but said “it’s not something that’s automatic” when it comes to extending Ben this off-season with two years left on his contract.