Published 8:36 p.m. ET Jan 6, 2021
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The chances are dwindling.
Ben Roethlisberger knows. Cam Heyward and David DeCastro too.
It’s been a decade since the Pittsburgh Steelers made the Super Bowl and a dozen years since they won it. In most countries this is hardly a drought. Not a place where players, coaches and front office members walk past six Lombardi trophies every day when they go to work.
The chances that Roethlisberger would keep reappearing in his third Super Bowl appearance in six seasons after losing to Green Bay in 2011 have not occurred.
The 38-year-old Roethlisberger plays with a surgically repaired right elbow and is four years before his team’s last playoff victory. He knows exactly how small the window has become for the AFC North Champions (12: 4), who will go into the first round on Sunday from Cleveland (11-5).
“When I was a young man, people tried to explain to me that they were taking advantage of this, that and the other,” said Roethlisberger on Wednesday. “You think I am young; I’ll get back.’ It is not guaranteed. I think all veterans who are just finishing our careers know that we don’t know what’s next. When for some people there will be another. “
It’s not dramatic. While Roethlisberger is under contract for 2021, he says he won’t make a firm decision until sometime in the off-season. Left-wing attack Alejandro Villaneuva is in the final days of a contract that expires in March.
During their daily car trips, Villanueva and DeCastro exchange barbs, discuss ideas and try to estimate how little time remains in this chapter of their lives.
“Kind of a surreal thought that this might be the final year because of the business side,” DeCastro said.
And there’s a financial settlement pending for the Steelers. Pittsburgh is already $ 21 million above its 2021 salary cap, with just 35 players signed for the next season.
The broad recipient JuJu Smith-Schuster and the returning James Conner will go on the open market in the spring. External linebacker TJ Watt is set to enter the final year of his rookie deal, and there is a strong desire to lock the Defensive Player of the Year candidate long-term, which won’t come cheap.
Cornerback Joe Haden, who will sit out on Sunday due to COVID-19 logs, has a cap hit of more than $ 15 million. Roethlisberger has $ 41.25 million. While restructuring might alleviate some of the pain, it cannot contain everything.
The changes emerging at a franchise that prides itself on its persistence have added urgency to a season when the Steelers look like both a Super Bowl contender and a follower, sometimes in the same game.
“You don’t want to say what if? and there are tons of opportunities that I’ve missed, ”said Heyward. “And I don’t want this to be an opportunity that I missed.”
Heyward made an attempt to bridge it during a meeting when he set out the bonus money for winning each round of the playoffs, a number that goes into the low six numbers. Oh, and the chance to become the first franchise to win seven Super Bowls.
“I know it can feel overwhelming, but let your work take care of it,” Heyward said.
Heyward missed Pittsburgh’s run to the 2016 AFC championship game due to a chest injury. However, he was on the field for a 2017 division round loss to Jacksonville when the Jaguars came to Heinz Field as seven-point underdogs and stunned the AFC’s second seed by taking a three touchdown lead and then holding on .
A return trip to the playoffs in 2018 was reversed with a 2-4 finish. Despite Roethlisberger’s defeat at halftime in the second week of last season, Pittsburgh were 8-5 in mid-December and in the thick of the action until they lost their last three games.
The years go by quickly. Heyward arrived months after the Super Bowl loss to the Packers. DeCastro came to him a year later. You’ve made 10 Pro Bowl appearances, $ 140 million in career wins, and five playoff berths. You’ve done almost everything there is to be done except the one by which all Steelers are judged. And they know.
“The only thing I really have left is the Super Bowl and the experience of what it would be like for the team, the city, the fans,” said DeCastro. “It would be amazing to do that. I’d love to see it, love to be a part of it.”
NOTES: Roethlisberger, who went to the regular season finale against the Browns last week to rest, was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, a rarity. … DT Tyson Alualu (ankles) and LB Vince Williams (quadriceps) were not exercising. K Chris Boswell (groin) and CB Steven Nelson (knee) were limited. … LG Matt Feiler (chest) and LB Robert Spillane (knee) trained for the first time since their injury in December. The team has 21 days to activate it. … The Steelers and the Kraft Heinz Company have agreed to extend the naming rights for Heinz Field until 2021. The current contract expired at the end of this season.
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