The Pittsburgh Steelers selected quarterback Landry Jones in
the fourth round of last weekend’s NFL Draft. The pick likely indicates that
veteran backup Charlie Batch no longer has a roster spot with the team, but he
believes it could mean more. Batch told Ron Cook of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
that Jones could be the Steelers’ heir apparent behind starting quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger.
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"Maybe they weren't happy with what they had behind Ben and Bruce. That could be. But ultimately, I think this isn't about replacing me. Big picture, maybe they're thinking, 'Can we develop Landry Jones to be the starter? Maybe two years from now, he could be our guy for the next 10 years.' We don't know. But with the contracts for quarterbacks these days, he'd certainly be a heck of a lot cheaper than Ben at age 34 or 35 or 36."
For their part, the Steelers have said that they expect to
get several more solid seasons out of Big Ben. He’s 31 years old, and general
manager Kevin Colbert looked to some of the elite quarterbacks in the league –
including Tom Brady and Peyton Manning – who have played at a high level into
their mid-30’s. Pittsburgh is hoping the same is to come from Roethlisberger.
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