Ben Roethlisberger teased the idea of walking away from football after last season but never truly seemed serious.
However, the five-time Pro Bowl quarterback said during an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday that retirement at the end of the 2017 season is a serious consideration.
Roethlisberger, 35, will tie Terry Bradshaw for the longest tenure as a Steelers quarterback as he heads into his 14th NFL season.
Big Ben told Ed Bouchette of the Post-Gazette that retirement remains an option for him after this season and that his wife, Ashley, would like to see him give up football.
“It’s just, it’s 14 years; that’s a long time,” Roethlisberger told the newspaper. “I think the average life expectancy in the NFL is three years, maybe 3 1/2 now.
“I’ve been blessed to do this a long time. I think it’s just seeing my kids growing up, and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time. Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that, but it still consumes you in a way.”
–Two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jurrell Casey agreed to terms on a multi-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, the team announced.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the club, but multiple outlets reported that the pact was for four years and $60.4 million — with $40 million guaranteed.
“It is rare to do a contract extension early in this business,” Titans general manager Jon Robinson said. “But Jurrell is a unique player in that he was drafted here, has already done an extension with the team, is a standout in our community, and has earned multiple Pro Bowl invitations. We are happy to have him as a Titan for many years to come.”
Casey, who has two years remaining on his current contract, recorded 51 tackles and five sacks during the 2016 season. The 27-year-old is the first player to register four consecutive seasons with at least five sacks since the team moved to Tennessee in 1999.
–Los Angeles Rams star defensive tackle Aaron Donald missed the deadline for the team’s training camp and now is officially a holdout.
Players were due to report to the team’s training camp at 11 a.m. PT at UC Irvine. The Rams and Donald are still engaged in contract negotiations, and general manager Les Snead said agreeing to an extension with Donald is “still a priority.”
“And that’s been a priority for us then (during the offseason program), this summer, and even as we head into camp,” Snead said Thursday.
Donald, 26, is entering the fourth season of his original five-year rookie deal, with his fifth-year option already being picked up.
–Oakland Raiders left tackle Donald Penn did not report for the start of the team’s training camp due to frustration over his contract, multiple media outlets reported.
The 2016 Pro Bowl selection is entering the final season of a two-year contract that has a base salary of $5.8 million, with bonuses and incentives pushing that total to $7.15 million. By comparison, at least 14 offensive tackles in the NFL make $10 million per season.
Penn has yet to miss a regular-season game since entering the league as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2007. The 34-year-old sat out the Raiders’ wild-card playoff loss to the Houston Texans last season with a left knee injury.
Penn allowed just one sack in 2016, albeit a costly one, as quarterback Derek Carr sustained a broken leg on the play against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 16.
–Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman is doing his best to protect himself as his representatives attempt to hammer out a contract extension.
Freeman has paid roughly $50,000 for a $10 million insurance policy to serve as protection for the upcoming season should he fail to come to terms with the team, NFL Network’s Michael Silver reported.
The 25-year-old Freeman is slated to make $1.838 million heading into the final year of his rookie contract. He could then receive the franchise tag for the next two seasons.
Freeman started all 16 regular-season games in 2016, leading the Falcons with 1,079 rushing yards to go with 462 receiving yards on 54 receptions. He had 13 total touchdowns.
–Dallas Cowboys defensive end Damontre Moore has been suspended for the first two regular-season games of the 2017 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, the league announced.
The ban stems from Moore being charged with driving under the influence as well as driving with a suspended license in December.
Moore is allowed to practice in training camp and play in preseason games. The 24-year-old will be able to rejoin the club on Sept. 18, one day after the Cowboys’ game against the Denver Broncos.
Moore joins fellow Dallas defensive ends Randy Gregory and David Irving in being handed suspensions. Gregory has been banned for the season for multiple violations of the substance-abuse policy while Irving will miss the first four games for violating the same policy.
–The San Francisco 49ers placed defensive back Jimmie Ward on the physically unable to perform list after he suffered a hamstring injury during Thursday’s conditioning test.
The 49ers also announced the team signed defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, who was the third overall pick in this year’s draft, to a four-year deal.
Ward’s timeline for recovery is week-to-week, the team said.
The 49ers originally selected the 5-foot-11, 193-pound Ward in the first round (30th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has appeared in 35 games (18 starts) over his three-year career, totaling 130 tackles, 20 passes defensed, two sacks and two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown).
–The Titans waived offensive guard Sebastian Tretola, five days after he was shot in Arkansas.
Tretola suffered a gunshot wound in his leg/ankle area after being shot Sunday in Fayetteville, Ark., where he played for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Tretola, a 2016 sixth-round pick who played in one game for the Titans as a rookie last season, was released from the hospital Sunday with what the team called “a minor injury.” He was waived with a non-football injury designation.
Tretola and Titans receiver Tajae Sharpe were accused of assaulting a man outside a Nashville bar in April. Neither player has been charged and the case is being investigated as a civil matter.
–The Baltimore Ravens signed Arena League quarterback David Olson as Joe Flacco deals with a back injury, the team announced.
The Ravens began training camp Thursday without Flacco, who told the team of a disk issue in his back just before the first full-team meeting. He is expected to miss at least a week.
Olson, who worked out for the Ravens on Thursday, likely will have a temporary role right with Flacco sidelined, joining Ryan Mallett and Dustin Caughan as quarterbacks on the roster. Mallett has taken Flacco’s spot with the first-team offense and Vaughan is a second-year player out of Division II West Texas A&M.
With a quarterback short at the first practice of camp, the Ravens used offensive assistant coach Matt Weiss to line up under center and hand off to running backs in drills.