Pittsburgh Steelers sign QB Ben Roethlisberger to five-year deal, add running back DeAngelo Williams

The Pittsburgh Steelers might be cutting ties with some of their veteran defensive players, but today they made sure to keep the face of the franchise around for the next few seasons, as the team announced that it signed quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to a new five-year contract.

The Steelers also added to their running back depth, signing veteran free agent DeAngelo Williams to a two-year contract, the team announced today.

“We are excited to announce we have signed Ben Roethlisberger to a new five-year contract,” Steelers President Art Rooney II said. “Ben is one of the greatest quarterbacks in team history, and we are thrilled we were able to finalize a contract that will keep Ben with the Steelers through the 2019 season at least. We believe Ben is getting better each year, and we are looking forward to him continuing to lead us toward another Super Bowl championship.”

Roethlisberger is entering his 12th season with the team in 2015 after originally being selected by Pittsburgh with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. In his 11 seasons, he has led the Steelers to five division championships and two Super Bowl victories in three appearances.

He holds career franchise regular-season records in numerous categories, including passing touchdowns (251), passing yards (39,057), passer rating (93.9), completions (3,157), pass attempts (4,954), completion percentage (63.7), yards per attempt (7.9), most 300-yard passing games (37) and 3,000-yard passing seasons (9).

In 2014, Roethlisberger had one of the finest single seasons in team history and was selected to his third Pro Bowl. He set the Steelers’ single season passing records for completions (408), attempts (608), completion percentage (67.1), passing yards (4,952), 300-yard games (9) and games with a passer rating of 100.0 or more (10). He also tied his own single-season record by throwing 32 touchdown passes (2007 and 2014).

In Weeks 8 and 9 of the 2014 season, Roethlisberger rewrote the team’s single-game record book, and he set NFL records. For his efforts, he was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week back-to-back weeks. In a Week 8 victory against the Indianapolis Colts, he Pittsburgh’s set single-game records in completions (40), passing yards (522) and passing touchdowns (6). By throwing for 522 yards in that contest, Roethlisberger became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 500 yards in multiple games.

Roethlisberger followed up that performance by throwing six more touchdown passes in a Week 9 victory against the Baltimore Ravens. By throwing 12 total touchdowns in those back-to-back games, he set an NFL record for the most passing touchdowns in a two-game span.

With Williams now lined up behind him, the Steelers are hoping to bring back more of a run-pass balance to their offense.

Williams is the Carolina Panthers all-time leader in rushing attempts (1,432), rushing yards (6,846), rushing touchdowns (46), and 100-yard rushing games (18). He was originally drafted by the Panthers in the first round (27th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft.

Williams ended his Panthers’ tenure holding numerous team records, including single-game rushing yards (210), single-season rushing yards (1,515 in 2008), single-season rushing touchdowns (18 in 2008), single-game rushing touchdowns (4), consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (8), most 100-yard games in a single season (8 in 2008), single season total touchdowns (20 in 2008) and longest rush (77 yards).

He has played in 117 games during the regular season with 82 starts, and has seen action in four postseason contests with two starts. In addition to his rushing totals, Williams has 178 career receptions for 1,621 yards with seven receiving touchdowns during the regular season.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services