After some backroom salary cap wrangling, Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers are officially reuniting for one more shot at a third Super Bowl title. That may sound like good news for those who enjoyed a 12–4 season and nervously weathered the year-end theatrics, which included Roethlisberger looking longingly out into the stands at Heinz Field after the team’s playoff loss, intimating that it may be his last moment as a Steeler, and ownership later coming out to declare that it would not bring him back in 2021 on his gargantuan salary.
But the fact that we’ve arrived here is no victory; it’s a concession to the hard reality of Pittsburgh’s long-term prospects.