Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers Agree on New Contract: Latest Details, Reaction

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is often left out of the conversation regarding the NFL's best signal-callers, but he is about to be paid like one.

According to the club's official Twitter feed, Big Ben and the Steelers finalized a new contract Friday. They snapped a picture of Roethlisberger signing his new deal:

On Saturday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com broke down the financial details of the five-year deal:

Albert Breer of NFL Network added more on the guaranteed money included in Roethlisberger's contract:

Tom Pelissero of USA Today and Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun broke down the details of the contract further:

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#Steelers saved $1.15M in cap space in 2015. Roethlisberger's new cap #s: $17.245M in '15, $23.95M in '16, $18.2M in '17, $23.2M in '18/'19.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 19, 2015"

The QB commented on what the Steelers mean to him: "It's home. It's family. As much as my wife and kids are family, so is the Rooney family and my team and coaches. I've always said this is where I want to be."

Steelers president Art Rooney II added:

Roethlisberger is one of the most successful quarterbacks in Steelers history, with two rings and three Super Bowl appearances to his credit. The veteran is 33 years old, which means he should have plenty of good years left.

Big Ben leaned on a great defense and running game early in his career, and it can be argued that he was a supporting player in their Super Bowl wins rather than a key figure. The Steelers have evolved over the years, though, and Roethlisberger is now their biggest weapon.

All things considered, 2013 was one of the best statistical seasons of Roethlisberger's career. The team unfortunately missed the playoffs by one win after failing to bounce back from early-season issues, but Roethlisberger ended the campaign with 4,261 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

As good as Big Ben was in 2013, his 2014 season was even better. He set or matched career highs across the board with 32 touchdown passes, a completion percentage of over 67 percent and 4,952 passing yards, which tied him for the league lead, per NFL on ESPN:

The fact that Roethlisberger has been a "winner" over the course of his career has long been his best asset, but that is intangible and dependent upon several other factors. In 2013 and 2014, Big Ben proved that he can be a top-10 quarterback from a production standpoint.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

In addition, Roethlisberger was able to stay relatively healthy over the past two seasons. He took his lumps here and there, but he was able to start all 16 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in his career.

While Roethlisberger may not quite be on the same level as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers, he isn't far off. Nobody is more cognizant of that fact than head coach Mike Tomlin, according to Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Talk:

Roethlisberger has to be excited about getting a deal done since he'll get to remain in familiar surroundings and is a rich man to boot, but he is far from the only beneficiary. Rooney made retaining Roethlisberger a top priority as early as last year, per Scott Brown of ESPN.com:

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We've got to have Ben retire as a Steeler. There's no doubt about that. When both sides are able to come together on an extension. I don't know when that will be, but there's no doubt we look at Ben as somebody who's going to be here for the long term and hopefully five or more years.

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As much as Rooney wanted to get Roethlisberger locked up, Big Ben had just as much desire to remain in Pittsburgh, according to KDKA-TV:

Now that the two sides have come to terms, there is a solid chance that Roethlisberger will remain with the Steelers for the rest of his career.

Even though Pittsburgh's season didn't end as hoped, there has to be optimism entering the 2015 season. The team's quarterback is locked in and playing better than he ever has, and as long as the other puzzle pieces start to fit, the Steelers should be a team on the rise.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.