NFL's decision due on Roethlisberger
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While they are expecting to learn today what punishment Ben Roethlisberger will receive from National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell, the Steelers have received trade feelers from other teams and have not ruled out the possibility of dealing their two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned.
To gird for a possible suspension for Mr. Roethlisberger, the Steelers traded a seventh-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tuesday night for quarterback Byron Leftwich, who was Mr. Roethlisberger's backup during their 2008 Super Bowl season.
"I'm happy to be back," Mr. Leftwich told the Post-Gazette shortly after the trade was announced by the Steelers. "I have a big ol' smile on my face."
It is not believed the Steelers are actively seeking to trade Mr. Roethlisberger, nor are they close to doing what they did with Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes, who was traded for a fifth-round pick to the New York Jets because the team was planning to release him anyway.
Nonetheless, the possibility Mr. Roethlisberger could be traded, provided the price is right, is not being discounted by the team.
The Steelers are expecting to hear today what punishment Mr. Roethlisberger will receive from Mr. Goodell in connection with an alleged sexual assault incident in Georgia.
Mr. Roethlisberger was not charged in the case in Milledgeville, Ga., in which he was accused by a 20-year-old college student of assaulting her in a nightclub bathroom. But he is expected to be suspended by the league, perhaps two to four games, for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a news conference Thursday that the Steelers would work with Mr. Goodell to determine the punishment and that no further discipline would be administered.
Mr. Rooney said Mr. Roethlisberger is prepared to accept the "consequences."
At the time of the news conference, the Steelers were unaware of the details of the alleged incident that were contained in a police report that was made public Friday.
Mr. Goodell's announcement would come a day before the start of the NFL draft -- a draft in which director of football operations Kevin Colbert has said the Steelers do not need a quarterback.
First Published April 21, 2010 12:00 am
