As the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wait to find out the number of games for which Roethlisberger will be suspended to start the 2010 season, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the team has “received trade feelers” from other teams, and that the Steelers have not ruled out trading Roethlisberger.
Though the Steelers are far from engaging in a Santonio-style fire sale, Dulac writes that “the possibility Roethlisberger could be traded, provided the price is right, is not being discounted by the team.”
The belief in some circles is that, while the Steelers aren’t inclined to trade Roethlisberger, they’re hoping to scare him straight with, for example, a potential trade to a team like the Raiders. And so throughout the first round of the 2010 draft on Thursday night, Roethlisberger likely will be braced for the Commissioner to announce that there has been a trade, and that the Steelers are now on the clock.
That said, we think that both sides would benefit from a fresh start, given that Roethlisberger has acquired pariah status in the eyes of many Pittsburghers -- and that it could be a long time before he ever begins to reclaim his image.
