Ryan Clark Fires Back At Steelers Great Ben Roethlisberger Over Controversial Comments

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a ton of decisions to make during the 2025 offseason, which means the organization will be a major talking point in the media. In today's world, the media contains a lot of former players. That can be on a major network like ESPN, or a player's individual podcast. Former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been hosting his own podcast for a couple of years now, and he will occasionally make some headlines with a comment about the team or about his former head coach, Mike Tomlin.

Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season, and since then, he has been fairly public about his opinions regarding his former team. During the most recent episode of Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger, the former quarterback shared that the Steelers are not what they used to be when it comes to attractive organizations. Players around the league do not want to come play in Pittsburgh anymore like they used to. Former safety Ryan Clark addressed Roethlisberger's comments on NFL Live, where he firmly disagreed with his former quarterback.

"All respect to Ben Roethlisberger, great teammate, Hall of Fame, first-ballot guy to me," Clark said. "But he's wrong, because when you look at free agent signings in Pittsburgh, you think of names like James Farrior, Jeff Hartings, Kevin Greene, who's a Hall of Famer, and me. Ain't no way I should be one of the biggest free-agent signings in a team's entire history, but I am because the free agency was not where the Steelers built their team. They built their team through the draft."

Clark has a point. The Steelers were never considered big spenders on the free agent market; the organization would rather produce home-grown talent. Former General Manager Kevin Colbert was rarely aggressive in free agency, however, his successor Omar Khan has shown that he is not scared of making some big splashes.

The Steelers gave out the largest contract to a free agent in the history of the organization during the 2024 offseason when the franchise signed inside linebacker Patrick Queen. That is the biggest splash when it comes to free agency. Pittsburgh was also able to sign DeShon Elliott, who made a huge impact on the defense in 2024.

If anything, the Steelers are finding more success than they ever have before, which is a good thing. The Steelers are in the top-10 when it comes to cap space for the 2025 season, so the organization can spend in free agency once again.

While Roethlisberger was the quarterback in Pittsburgh, the team was rarely bringing in a ton of free agents. Clark is an undrafted safety and he is one of the biggest and most successful signings in team history. It seems as though the franchise used to try to find all the diamonds in the rough during free agency, but now the decision-makers are not afraid of taking big swings.

Steelers Legend Ben Roethlisberger Still Has A Point About Pittsburgh Being Undesirable

The Steelers may be able to bring in some free agents, however Pittsburgh is not a very desirable destination for some. The Steelers have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season and the organization doesn't seem to be anywhere near finding its next franchise quarterback. It is nearly impossible to win in the NFL without a franchise quarterback, so some players may decide not to come to Pittsburgh because of that.

Leading up to the 2024 season, the Steelers were enthralled in trade talks with the San Francisco 49ers for wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The saga went on for what felt like months, and eventually the wide receiver was given an ultimatum. Either sign the extension in San Francisco, or get dealt to Pittsburgh. He ended up choosing the extension.

What do you make of the comments from both Roethlisberger and Clark? Let us know in the comments below!

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