By: Michael Stiffler, @Stiffeezy_ on Twitter
SteelerNation.com
By now, everyone has heard of the mega extension Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes signed. 10 years, $450 million extension, with a chance to be as high as $503 million per ESPN's Adam Schefter. Now to no surprise, no Pittsburgh Steelers players will be getting the baseball-esque contract that Mahomes did any time soon. Ben Roethlisberger is nearing the end of his career, and no other position gets that many years and that much money, but seeing this deal got my wheels turning on which current Steelers would be perfect for this decade-long extension (hypothetically speaking).
Chris Boswell
Specialists are probably the one position that consistently give quarterbacks a run for their money in terms of longevity. For reference, Adam Vinateri was 47 years old kicking balls this past season. Boswell is currently 29 years old, and with his current deal, he will become a free agent at the age of 32, so the idea of adding 10 more years taking him into his early 40's isn’t far off. Also, it isn’t like he wouldn’t deserve it. Right now, Boswell has made 87.0% of his field goal attempts, and is 95.5% on extra point attempts. If you take out the very rough, very forgettable 2018 Boswell experienced, his field goal percentage is 90.5% and 97.7% on extra point attempts. Those are numbers I would be willing to keep around for another decade.
Mason Rudolph
Before you grab your pitchforks and put my head on a spike, hear me out on this one. I am not saying give him the keys and let him be the quarterback of the future, but rather yet, let him be the Charlie Batch of the future. Doesn’t that sound better? Rudolph’s current contract expires when he is 27 and signing him for another 10 years would keep him around till he is 37 -- very similar to Batch’s time in Pittsburgh. It was always nice to have a reliable veteran come in and manage the game when Roethlisberger would miss his few games a year, and not feel worried. This would also break the recent model the Steelers have had with Landry Jones, Josh Dobbs, and Rudolph where you are shaky on how they will perform. Also, this would allow Rudolph to become entrenched in the Steelers playbook and be a great mentor to whomever may be under center for the black and gold in the future. Rudolph also possess the perfect personality for this type of role. He went through hell and back last season from the concussion against the Baltimore Ravens, to being benched for Devlin “Duck” Hodges, to the Thursday night fiasco in Cleveland, he remained even-keeled. This is very reminiscent to Batch and something the Steelers should aim to keep around in some capacity for a very long time.
These may not have been the players you would have immediately thought of, but many of the other guys that come to mind would be mid-thirties and in positions where the physical toll on their body is too much to handle.
What did you think of Pat Mahomes' deal? Would you want the Steelers to invest in any player that much? Will extended length contracts become more common? Drop a comment below!
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