The Pittsburgh Steelers have been having a tough couple seasons and the team looks like it will miss the playoffs yet again and that is one reason why reports have come out from Ian Rapoport, who said on NFL GameDay Morning that the quarterback could ask for a trade after the season and that the team could consider trading him for another franchise quarterback and some teams that could be open are the Oakland Raiders, Vikings, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans.
According to SI.com, the deal likely would only happen if the team has a chance to get a franchise quarterback in return and this comes after Rapoport reported that the team has listened to offers for Roethlisberger previously. Rapoport continued by saying that Roethlisberger is not happy with how the franchise is going the past two seasons and there has been somewhat of an icy relationship between Todd Haley and the QB. On top of that, the Steelers have let some offensive weapons go in free agency without really replacing them and while he is making $12 million next season and just under that at $11 million the next season, there are plenty of teams that could be open to working out a trade, including the Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
One reason why the Arizona Cardinals fit is because Bruce Arians is close with Roethlisberger and he was the former offensive coordinator during the best years for the QB in Pittsburgh and he has Carson Palmer, but he hasn't done much for the team this season. There are plenty of teams that could look into dealing for Roethlisberger if he is actually available and while that is a long ways off for the offseason, if the Steelers miss the playoffs again it could mean something happens. The Steelers have not looked good on offense and after missing the playoffs just twice in his first eight seasons, Roethlisberger had to deal with a tough season in 2012 and the team finished .500 and are looking like they are out of the playoffs this season.
The offense is ranked near the bottom of the league in points scored on offense and that there is a chance the team could blow up the offense in the offseason and that could mean a trade for Roethlisberger. Todd Haley is likely gone at the end of the season and the report also said that the team heard at least an offer or two last season and on top of that, they drafted Landry Jones in the fourth round as a possible option. The team has over $100 million on the books for next season and after letting a number of key players leave the past few years, there could be some big moves made in the offseason. The trade sounds crazy, but based on how the Steelers have played, change could be in order.
There's a chance the team could make a move in the draft to get someone like Teddy Bridgewater, Johnny Manziel or Marcus Mariota or any number of players that comes out from college and they also could try and pull the rare franchise swap with someone. Roethlisberger's agent of course refuted the reports and while that may be true, it doesn't mean the team hasn't considered the move and could do it down the line. Previously the team thought about trading to get Sam Bradford and also thought about dealing Roethlisberger during his off the field issues.
