With just one game remaining in the pre-season, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is on his way to the bench very soon to serve out the four to six  game suspension handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell for his off-season shananigans that came close to putting him front of a jury on sexual assault charges.

Roethlisberger is scheduled to meet with Goodell on Friday at the league offices in New York, and while a small reduction to his suspension is likely at this point, Roethlisberger is reportedly looking for a much larger decrease, potentially as much as three games, according to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.

The embattled quarterback has kept an extremely low profile thus far, putting in his work with the Steelers at training camp and performing well in limited duty during the team’s pre-season contests.

That, along with Roethlisberger having never been arrested or charged with any crime, should help the cause significantly, and it’s likely that Goodell will take a very serious look at granting his wish when it comes to the length of Roethlisberger’s suspension.

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Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has said and done all the right things in the time since he was slapped with a six game suspension by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this off-season.

But for the time being, that suspension is staying put right where it is, in spite of Roethlisberger’s exemplary behavior thus far in training camp, and while it’s still possible that it could be dropped down by a game or two, Goodell was fairly non-committal when pushed on the subject this morning at the Steelers training camp:

“I’m very encouraged by what he’s doing. I’ll take the period of time that I have before making the decision and make it probably right before the regular season.”

– NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

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Prognosticating this early in the summer as to how the season will play out for a team is never a reliable endeavor, but after losing their starter at offensive tackle for the entirety of the 2010 campaign, more than a few fans in Pittsburgh are sure to be contemplating throwing in the towel before their team even gets started.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, tackle Willie Colon has torn his Achilles tendon and will likely undergo surgery along with a lengthy stint in rehab as a result.

The Steelers have already had a trying off-season with former #1 wide receiver Santonio Holmes traded away to a conference rival in disgrace, and standout quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suspended for six games thanks in large part to allegations of him having raped a young college coed at a bar near his home in Georgia.

Losing Colon is yet another setback for this proud franchise, and while the first two will likely cause significant problems early on in the season, not having a solid leader in Colon in the huddle will undoubtedly be a major detractor as the year rolls on.

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Pittsburgh’s nightmare off-season came to a head yesterday, with wide receiver Limas Sweed clearing waivers and finding himself on the injured reserve list for the 2010 season.

Sweed tore his Achilles tendon during a team practice on May 2nd, leaving the Steelers short handed to say the least at the receiver position, with Hines Ward and Mike Wallace being the only two receivers with any significant talent on the roster.

To compensate for Sweed’s loss, Pittsburgh signed second year receiver Isaiah Williams, who spent last year out of football after being cut by Baltimore prior to the season opener.

Over the past few weeks, shocking details surrounding Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s life off the field have come to light, staining his personal reputation and that of his franchise as well.

This morning, an even more startling revelation was brought out into the open by ESPN’s Outside the Lines, discussing the reasons behind Roethlisberger’s decision to hire his own personal bodyguards to provide him security when he’s in public.

According to an unnamed source in the report, Roethlisberger hired on his security detail shortly after having a gun put to his head by an irate man outside a nightclub. Apparently, Roethlisberger was speaking with the man’s girlfriend in the street, and the individual in question threatened the star quarterback with his life as a result.

Obviously, the behavior of the man pointing the gun at Roethlisberger is abhorrent, and it would be hard to find any fan in any city that would wish that upon any player or anyone in general. That said, given all of the allegations that have come forward in recent weeks, it’s little surprise that we learn that Roethlisberger’s propensity for hitting on younger women outside adult establishments would land him in hot water.

Over the past few days, speculation has run rampant around the league about the Steelers decision to quietly shop starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to other franchises.

Despite their initial intentions, word quickly leaked out of Pittsburgh’s discussions with other clubs and up to now it seemed as though the frontrunners to eventually acquire the embattled quarterback were the Bills and the Raiders, given their defined need at that position.

But be that as it may, for now it seems as though those two teams have no intention whatsoever of consummating a deal with the Steelers in the near future, and their departure from the list of potential destinations for Roethlisberger leaves Pittsburgh with very little to work with.

The news of Buffalo and Oakland pulling out of the race so to speak, comes from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who has had both ears to the ground on this and almost every other story hitting the wire for some time.

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The NFL is poised to suspend Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for six games to start the season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen. The suspension carries several conditions that if met, will reduce Roethlisberger’s punishment to four games and free him up to return to Pittsburgh’s starting 11 earlier in the season.

While the specifics of the conditions are not yet known, they will likely be related to Roethlisberger’s behavior and clinical evaluations.

As always, we’ll have more on this story as it breaks.

Today is a day of reckoning of sorts for the Pittsburgh Steelers, in that they should find out just how long their franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be suspended to start next season.

While it is theoretically possible that Roethlisberger could escape unscathed, seeing as he has yet to be charged with a crime, but the league’s personal conduct policy gives commissioner Roger Goodell more than enough latitude to punish Roethlisberger as he sees fit, and it’s expected that the levy doled out will be a four game suspension at the very least.

With that in mind, the Steelers have been discussing the possibility of trading Roethlisberger internally over the past week or so, even going so far as to accept legitimate proposals from several teams, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

At this point, Pittsburgh’s actual interest in trading away Roethlisberger is not all that serious, but that could change if the commissioner doles out a much stuffer penalty to the embattled quarterback, as they can ill afford to go through the majority of their season with either Dennis Dixon or newly acquired Byron Leftwich at the helm, and still expect to contend for a playoff spot.

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In what could be the pre-cursor to a major move later on this week, the Steelers have reportedly acquired quarterback Byron Leftwich from the Buccaneers in exchange for a seventh round pick in this year’s draft.

Obviously, this doesn’t necessarily indicate one way or another that Pittsburgh will be moving their embattled starter at the position, Ben Roethlisberger, but it certainly lends credence to the idea that he’ll be suspended for a significant portion of the season at the very least.

Leftwich isn’t exactly the best option at quarterback, but considering what they had available prior to this deal, the move to acquire him makes a ton of sense, if only to ensure enough depth headed into the season. Sending a seventh round pick is pretty much a wash, as those players selected in that round typically don’t contribute much outside of special teams.

This is the second part of our series, looking at how each team stacks up headed into next week’s draft. In case you missed it, you can find part one covering the AFC East here.

As always, feel free to let us know what you think via the comment section.

Baltimore Ravens (9-7)

Analysis: The Ravens have done an excellent job over the years of identifying talent, regardless of position or need, and finding ways to get those players on their roster. This off-season has been no exception thus far, with Baltimore adding several quality playmakers on offense to help their young quarterback, Joe Flacco, next season. That said, they still have some work to do next week in the draft, especially on defense, where the majority of their stars are getting up there in age. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the past six seasons, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been nothing short of miraculous for his franchise and the city of Pittsburgh as a whole.

He’s led the Steelers to two Super Bowl victories, set all sorts of records with the club, and in general set himself up to eventually leave the team one day as the best ever at his position in the Steel City.

But after seeing two separate sexual assault charges involving Roethlisberger come to light recently, fans of the team are beginning to push for the Steelers to send their troubled quarterback packing for a new home, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson and ESPN’s Michael Smith.

No formal accusation was ever made by the prosecuting attorneys involved in either case, but Roethlisberger clearly lost his battle in the court of public opinion, and as such may end up forcing the Rooney family, who have owned the Steelers since its inception in 1933, to trade him away to the highest bidder in the coming weeks.

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It’s been a whirlwind day for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to say the least.

He received a rude awakening early this morning, with his top wide receiver Santonio Holmes traded away to the Jets after multiple off the field incidents incurred the wrath of commissioner Roger Goodell in the form of a four game suspension to start the 2010 season.

Shortly after that, word came down from law enforcement officials in Georgia that Roethlisberger would not be charged for his role in an alleged sexual assault that took place earlier this spring at a local night club near his home on Lake Oconee.

Then came the final piece to the puzzle this afternoon, with Steelers team president Art Rooney II releasing a short statement discussing the team’s opinion of Roethlisberger’s behavior (H/T to National Football Post).

Here’s what Mr. Rooney had to say: Read the rest of this entry »