The Pittsburgh Steelers and representatives for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger have worked on renegotiating the two-time Super Bowl champion's contract, and an agreement could come by the end of the week, according to a source apprised of the process.
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Roethlisberger is scheduled to carry a prohibitive salary-cap figure of $19.595 million in 2013, and the Steelers are working through tricky waters in regard to the cap, which is expected to land between $122 million and $123 million for this season. The Steelers, as it stands right now, have 10 players accounting for just over $100 million in cap space, and one player they have been trying to make a decision on is linebacker James Harrison, who has a 2013 cap hit of $10.035 million.
At this point, the expectation is that Roethlisberger's deal will be renegotiated, not extended. The Steelers' precedent has been to extend quarterbacks with two years left on their contracts, and that would mean Roethlisberger could get a new deal next offseason.
A Steelers source simply said nothing is done yet.
With Tom Brady's new deal with the New England Patriots, Roethlisberger's cap number is the fourth highest in the NFL, behind fellow quarterbacks Matthew Stafford of the Detroit Lions, Eli Manning of the New York Giants and Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos.
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