Is It Time for Steelers to Look for Heir Apparent to Ben Roethlisberger?

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is coming off the best season of his 11-year career as the team's starter. He had a career high in passing yardage, at 4,952, tied his highest touchdown total of 32, threw just nine interceptions, completed 67.1 percent of his passes and was sacked 33 times, down from 42 a year previous.

Roethlisberger was the NFL's co-leader in passing yardage for 2014, a season in which he also set the Steelers' single-game passing yardage record, with 522 yards against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 8. He threw six touchdowns in that game and repeated the feat the following week against the Baltimore Ravens.

Surrounded by arguably the best supporting cast he's had in his professional career, Roethlisberger has showed no signs of slowing. For the second straight year, he was able to play in all 16 regular-season games without injury. Though he's still the scrambling, hard-to-tackle improviser he's always been, he's also playing the game more smartly. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley's system finally suits him.

Year	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT	Y/A	Sack
2014	608	408	67.1%	4,952	32	9	8.1	33
Total	4,954	3,157	63.7%	39,057	251	131	7.9	419

Because of Roethlisberger's most recent feats of quarterbacking prowess, it's hard to think of the day when he will no longer play in the NFL, or for the Steelers. But it cannot be denied that Roethlisberger is about to turn 33 years old in March and has taken 419 sacks over the course of his career. At some point, the Steelers need to start thinking about who will eventually replace him.

Right now, the Steelers and Roethlisberger are trying to get a contract extension done that will make the quarterback a one-team man for the course of his NFL career. He's currently entering the final year of an eight-year, $102 million deal he signed in 2008 and should get an even more lucrative contract to close out his Pittsburgh tenure. It's just a matter of time.

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There's no set timetable on when a team should consider drafting and grooming the eventual replacement for its current starting quarterback. Quarterbacks do not have expiration dates, no matter how much NFL front offices would like that to be the case. Opportunities simply arise, born of advancing age and declining skills, or simply because of the dollar value of a veteran's contract versus that of a first- or second-year player forces a team's hand.

Though the Steelers would be smart to be proactive about the future of their quarterback position and amass better insurance than they currently have at the backup position, it just doesn't seem to be in the stars this year.

Paying for a veteran makes little sense when the Steelers are cash-strapped and have to figure out how to cram a Roethlisberger extension into their bloated salary cap. And drafting a quarterback this year would be a lost cause—there just isn't much talent at the position, according to NFL Network draft expert Mike Mayock (via Steve Doerschuk of The Canton Repository).

Neither of Roethlisberger's two backups, Bruce Gradkowski or Landry Jones, has a shot at eventually succeeding him. Gradkowski is Roethlisberger's age; Jones cannot even beat out Gradkowski for the team's No. 2 job and has not been active for a single regular-season game since being drafted in the fourth round in 2013.

In fact, general manager Kevin Colbert isn't too enthusiastic about Jones, if his comments to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last week are any indication. Colbert said, "Has [Jones] progressed to the point where he beat out Bruce as the No. 2? No. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I think when you have young guys, at least they have that chance to grow... If they grow, great. If they don't, then you look for others."

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However, given the dearth of quarterback talent in later rounds—the only place the Steelers could realistically think of drafting one this year—Jones seems to be the team's best option for the No. 3 job for at least 2015.

If the idea of Roethlisberger's eventual replacement is at all on the Steelers' minds right now, it will only remain an idea for at least the short term. There are no options to be found this year, whether via free agency or the draft.

So for now, Roethlisberger is the only quarterback of the future the Steelers need to concern themselves with. And with Roethlisberger seemingly hitting his peak, the Steelers are fortunate that this isn't a pressing issue for 2015, or even 2016. Even if the Steelers wanted to find his eventual replacement this year, it would not be possible.