Ben Roethlisberger may or may not be on the trade block, but that doesn't mean teams aren't interested in him. WPXI in Pittsburgh is reporting a "rumor" that the St. Louis Rams have offered the first overall pick in this year's draft plus their first-round pick in 2011 for Big Ben.
The Buffalo Bills' need for a franchise quarterback has been well-documented, and there's a possibility the Bills could use their first-round pick on an unproven QB in the draft next week. Instead of rolling the dice, could Buddy Nix trade for an established superstar? It would require heavy compensation to beat the rumored St. Louis offer. Jay Cutler was traded for two first-round picks and a third rounder just a year ago. Even with Roethsliberger's baggage, that type of deal is not out of the question for the 28-year-old.
The Bills would not just be giving up draft picks should they trade for Big Ben. Roethlisberger signed an eight-year, $102M contract two years ago, which will pay him $8.05M in 2010 and $11.6M in each of the next four seasons before ending in 2015 with a $12.1M salary. The Bills would be on the hook for that money which would easily be the largest contract in Bills history.
Roethlisberger met with NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell this week after a district attorney in Georgia announced he would not press charges against the two-time Super Bowl winner. Goodell could still choose to discipline the quarterback for violations of the league's personal conduct policy. WPXI sports anchor John Fedko says in the report that the Steelers and/or the league could punish the QB with a 2-4 game suspension based on past incidents though Roerthlisberger has never been charged.
The Rooney family showed once this week that they will rid themselves of a productive player who has made repated bad choices. Pittsburgh radio host Stan Savran said local fans are up in arms against Roethlisberger. Would they trade away the face of their franchise and more importantly, would the Bills be willing to part with so much to acquire potentially damaged goods?
Obviously this is all speculation and more of a hypothetical, so please don't get your knickers in a gnarly twist over this. It's pretty clear that it's not going to happen; we're just curious as to what y'all think.