I'm going to go out and present a radical idea (that will unfortunately never happen). It is time for the Steelers to part ways with Ben Rothlisberger. Yes, he could be an elite quarterback, but he has a huge salary and an ego to match, and last year proved that him and Todd Haley cannot co-exist in the same system. One of them needs to go, or else 2013 will also prove to be a disappointing loss.

Big Ben thrives in the system that was built around him, using the strength of his arm to toss the long ball to the open receiver deep down field. In this system he needs a speedy counterpart, which is why him and Mike Wallace worked so well together. Unfortunately, to do this he spends far too much time waiting for the receiver to break free, and with the O-Line collapsing it results in sacks or him making crazy scrambles to run for a short gain. The Todd Haley system emphasized quick reads and short passes, so rather than waiting for the deep threat to get open he is supposed to be tossing it to RBs and TEs that can catch it and break through to gain yards, or passes to talented receivers that can run routes and pick up the pass. He has been resisting change, which is why he always said he felt more comfortable in the 2-minute drill where he was making up plays on the fly, because he automatically assumed that Haley's calls were wrong.

However, they can't just cut him. For one thing, it would be stupid to lose him for nothing, and its not as if they have a viable starter waiting in the wings, but also they would take massive cap hits based on his remaining salary. But if they could convince Kansas City to do a trade, they could wind up with the 1st overall pick in the draft (and realistically also probably garner a few more picks and/or some additional players) and they could pick up QB Geno Smith. Then they keep Charlie Batch for another year as backup, serving as his mentor and a talented option to use in emergency situations. They could groom a highly touted QB prospect to Haley's system, rather than sticking with one that is fighting against the system. Of course, would the Chiefs even want him? He would be a much better fit with the Arizona Cardinals where he could rejoin his good buddy Bruce Arians, and the 7th overall pick is quite tempting as well, of course by then the best QB in the draft will most likely be gone.