After the past weeks events, it’s a pretty good bet that Antonio Brown has played his last game as a Steeler. The question now becomes if Brown is gone, shouldn’t the Steelers be thinking about starting the rebuild? Trading Ben Roethlisberger is the next logical step now that the other stars will be gone. It’s a perfect storm of events that should lead this team to trading its franchise quarterback. Here are a list of reasons why the Pittsburgh Steelers should trade Ben Roethlisberger…..

1. The “Killer B’s” era is over – It started just before the draft last year. Kevin Colbert got the deal he had been looking for and traded Martavis Bryant away. Next came Le’Veon Bell’s decision to skip the entire 2018 season. Now of course we have the Antonio Brown saga. At this point it is safe to say none of those three will be back in a Steelers uniform in 2019. With all this star talent being stripped from the roster, how much of a chance does this team have to win a Super Bowl next season? The answer is not much. So why hang on to an aging quarterback to accompany such a young roster? The smart move is to trade Big Ben now, and get a head start on whatever the next version of this team will be.

2. The market has never been better – There will never be a more opportune time to trade Ben Roethlisberger than right now. Several teams are in need of a veteran quarterback this offseason. Teams like the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Washington Redskins all could talk themselves into being one quarterback away from serious contention. Add to this the fact that the draft doesn’t offer any high end prospects at that position. Kevin Colbert could parlay those teams needs into quite a haul in terms of draft picks or players.

3. The end is near – I know what you’re thinking, Roethlisberger is coming off a season where he threw for more passing yards than any other season of his career. You have to look deeper to see the cracks however. Big Ben threw sixteen interceptions to go along with all those passing yards. That is the second most in his career, and the most in the NFL in 2018. What’s also concerning is how Roethlisberger has become jittery in the pocket. We didn’t see many of those classic extended plays with Big Ben scrambling around until he could hit a receiver down field. Many retired NFL players have said “there comes a time when you just don’t want to be hit anymore”. That time is rapidly approaching for Ben Roethlisberger.

4. The Steelers have already started the process – The 2018 draft was very telling on what the Steelers plans were going forward. Kevin Colbert ignored the team’s immediate needs at the linebacker position, opting instead to draft a quarterback, wide receiver, and tackle instead. Clearly the plan was to milk their superstars for one or two more years, while rebuilding on the fly. What they did not anticipate was the immaturity and craziness these stars would bring. So the time is now. Time to close the book on one of the tumultuous runs in Steelers history. Time to trade Ben Roethlisberger, and start over.