Roethlisberger Re-Upped, Other Signing News & Notes

Big Ben is now making big bucks, per the Rocky Mountain News. The Steelers QB and motorcycle enthusiast signed an eight-year, $102 million extension that will keep him in Pittsburgh black and gold through 2015, and includes over $36 million guaranteed money. Just think of how many motorbikes that'll buy! Hopefully, now that he doesn't have to, hem, pinch pennies, he can buy a few helmets to go with it. But this is a show of commitment by the Steelers to their playmaker, seeing how much space he'll now be taking up on the Pittsburgh payroll, and exceeds even the $98 million deal Manning signed with the Colts in '04. Steelers fans probably think it's worth it. Roethlisberger has proven what he can do for them, and this will move him further toward his stated wish of wanting to be like "the Dan Marinos, like the John Elways, guys who played with one team their whole career." (Props on citing Elway, Ben, always a good idea). Still, you'd think they'd spend a little of this money on guys who can actually protect Roethlisberger, who was sacked a whopping 47 times last season.

As for other market rumblings, Asante Samuel was snapped up by the Eagles almost as soon as free-agency period opened, despite some talk about the Saints being the front-runner. Randy Moss has said he is frustrated with the Patriots' lack of motion on getting a new contract hammered out after they declined to franchise-tag him, and that's led to some horrifying (if you're a Patriots fan or a fan of a team in the NFC East not Dallas) rumors of him landing with the Cowboys. Moss and Terrell Owens on the same team? Can the world take the united forces of douchebaggery (more than usual, that is) emanating from Texas? Will Moss yank out a machete if Romo throws to T.O. more often? Oy vey. I wouldn't envy anybody in that clubhouse if this should somehow take place.

Broncos DT Marcus Thomas has fallen back into iniquity with his (non) rocket-scientist friends, and was arrested after he was in the car with a friend who was busted for coke. Thomas's problems go back to his playing days at UF, where Urban Meyer was so convinced that he was hanging out with the wrong sort that he tried to stop him from going home. Yet again, it's the same old song, that Thomas is hanging out with all the wrong kinds of people, and he needs to wake up and realize that he's an NFL athlete and fulfilling the dream of playing pro sports isn't going to last forever. Dump those losers and put in some actual effort to change, Marcus... Unfortunately, being an NFL athlete these days entails being busted for just about every offense under the sun, so maybe he's taking notes. Thomas is also lucky he plays at DT, and behind him is The Ghost of Matt Lepsis (switched to the D-line instead of the O-line since there's practically no one else) and if we cut him, we'd be in even more dire straits than we are now. Denver is not going to have any leeway to point and snicker at the Falcons and Bengals if their offseason of arrests keeps up. Oy.

The Broncos also signed WR Keary Colbert, formerly of the Panthers, to a three-year contract. Colbert is only 25 and was a second-round pick out of USC, and had 47 catches in 2004, which he hopes to replicate in competing for the #2 WR job. This isn't exactly a stellar pickup, but the team is being quiet in free agency and hoping to get enough selections to address all their needs in the draft. (They did, however, sign Seattle linebacker Niko Koutouvides, Pro Bowler Lofa Tatupu's backup and special-teams ace, since they need somebody, anybody, to plug in the D-line). Brandon Stokley is not an every-down receiver and therefore will be in the #3 spot, no matter what that article says. Also, Denver has a surfeit of DEs with Jarvis Moss's return and Elvis Dumervil entrenched, plus re-signing Engelberger and Ebenezer Ekuban (who didn't play last year due to injury). Dumervil and Moss, if he's healthy, figure to be the starters on the frontline corners.

The Quarterback Quiz: Pittsburgh Steelers

While the football world is still basking in (or trying to shut out, in the case of Massachusetts) the Giants' thrilling Super Bowl victory, I get back to work. (Briefly, I recommend checking out the photos from the Giants' ticker tape parade. Michael Strahan looks like he is absolutely losing his gourd in all of them, while Eli sports his signature dorkily happy grin and Michael Bloomberg looks like a Lilliput transported to the land of the Brobdingnagians. It's amusing).

We move onto the AFC North, and the Steel City, where the other Pennsylvania team sees how its signal-caller matches up. Back to you, Quarterback Quiz...

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6): Ben Roethlisberger

"Big Ben," as he's known affectionately around the Allegheny, is unfortunately more well-known by the rest of the world as becoming an inadvertent helmet-safety public-service announcement after his (helmetless) motorcycle crash on June 12, 2006 almost cost him his playing career and possibly his life. But since Steelers apparently can't be destroyed by crashing facefirst into pavement off a speeding bike, Roethlisberger made a full recovery and went on to play a regular season. This was nothing new for him, as he's made a reputation as a tough player from the start. He started his career at Findlay High School, where he was actually a wide receiver for three years and didn't make the switch to quarterback until his senior year. However, this didn't slow him down. #7 (he wears it as a tribute to Elway) went on to be a collegiate standout at Miami University, which contrary to the name is actually in Oxford, Ohio. He started three years for the Redhawks and holds every school passing record; he threw for 3,100, 3200, and 4,400 yards respectively, and in 2003, his senior year, he captained the Redhawks to an undefeated season and a win over Louisville in the GMAC Bowl.

Taken 11th overall in 2004 by the Steelers, Big Ben was immediately poised as the future of the franchise, but like most rookies, he had to wait to break into the starting job. Trapped in the depth chart behind Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch, Roethlisberger got his chance in Week 2 when Batch fell prey to injury and Maddox fell prey to ... well, not being very good. What happened next was some Steel City Magic. Roethlisberger promptly ripped off 13 straight regular season wins and beat the Jets in the divisional playoffs before the Steelers fell to the Patriots (as often happens) in the AFC Championship -- making his record as a first-year starter 14-1. Not bad.

Roethlisberger followed it up the next year, 2005, where he led the Steelers to three straight road wins at the end of the season to seal a repeat playoff appearance. Pittsburgh entered the playoffs as the sixth seed in the AFC, but upended Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl XL meeting with the Seattle Seahawks. Here, Roethlisberger nominally became the youngest quarterback ever to win the big game at 23 years of age, but his individual stats weren't particularly impressive: 9 of 21 passes completed with two interceptions, and his 22.6 rating was the lowest ever for a victorious quarterback. Still, the Steelers took the crown 21-10.

Due to Roethlisberger's aforementioned crash, however, 2006 was his roughest season in his still-young career. After posting high-nineties passer ratings for each of his first two years, he fell all the way to 75.4, throwing 18 TD to 23 INT and completing just 59% of his passes. However, with another season to separate himself from the crash, he redeemed himself valiantly in 2007 -- with 32 TD to 11 INT, a mammoth 104.1 rating (his highest career figure to date) 3,154 yards, and a 65.3 completion percentage, he looked much more like the Big Ben of old and led the Steelers to the AFC North title. However, they were bumped 31-29 in wild-card play by the Jacksonville Jaguars; Roethlisberger got sacked six times and started the final drive with a fumble. Still, his position is secure as Steelers QB, and if the organization could put an actual O-line steel curtain around him (Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times in the regular season, the second-highest total in the NFL) he could showcase even more improved performance.