Ben Roethlisberger contract: Value of deal said to be as much as $108 million over five years

The #Steelers signed QB Ben Roethlisberger to a 5-year deal worth $99M that can escalate to $108M, source said. Big-time deal.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 14, 2015

While the details as reported by NFL Network's Ian Rapoport aren't complete, it would seem Roethlisberger's 5-year, $99 million deal is more team-friendly than Ben friendly.

It almost seems intentional the deal would be just under $100 million in base value, assuming the additional $9 million would be accounted for in performance bonuses (not counted against the cap).

Without the bonus money being broken out, it's hard to make much of it except for the fact he'll be getting just above or below a $20 million a year mark.

The full details would need to be available to determine what kind of cap implication the contract has. We've expected his new deal to only provide a minimal amount, if any, of cap relief, and after four days of open free agency, there aren't many targets still available who would command big bucks anyway.

The team is meeting with Saints cornerback Patrick Robinson this weekend, and he may get offers in the $2 million a year range. It remains to be seen whether the Steelers value the 6-foot-0, 195-pound cornerback at that level, but it's presumably more than they would have offered Brice McCain, who signed for $2.5 million a year with the Dolphins.