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Ben Roethlisberger Calls Out Steelers Cheap Free Agency Tactics

The former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback has watched them bargain for years.

Noah Strackbein

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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers rarely make a major splash in free agency, and even this offseason, when players are signing to fill starter positions, there hasn't been a name that flew off the screen as a star signing. 

Most of the time, Pittsburgh stays conservative and will wait until most of the big names are off the board before they start signing players. During the latest episode of Ben Roethlisberger's 'Footbahlin' podcast, he called out the Steelers' bargain mentality on the open market. 

"The Steelers, I’ve felt, have done a lot in the past is they try to get a bargain free agent," Roethlisberger said. "That usually means it’s a guy that maybe was banged up. It’s like, ‘Oh, no, he’s healthy now’, instead of going to get a free agent that is just [high on the market] because they don’t want to have to pay a lot."

The Steelers will need to worry about health with their biggest signing of the offseason Isaac Seumalo, who played just 12 games from 2020-2021 due to injuries. 

Roethlisberger admitted it's not every free agency, but the norm is that the Steelers don't spend big for players to come to Pittsburgh. Even last year, when the Steelers signed five players within the first two days of the new year, none came with a significant price tag - and so far, two have been replaced. 

"Okay, everyone’s got different philosophies," Roethlisberger said. "And it’s not all free agents [that] are that way, but to me, it has felt that way traditionally."

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Noah Strackbein
NOAH STRACKBEIN

Noah is the Publisher for All Steelers, Inside the Panthers (InsideThePanthers.com) and Inside the Penguins (InsidethePenguins.com), and is the host of All Steelers Talk (YouTube.com/AllSteelersTalk). A Scranton native, Noah made his way to the Pittsburgh sports scene in 2017. Now, he's pretty much full-yinzer.

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