Steelers to listen to Big Ben offers?

While Thursday's press conference with Art Rooney, II didn't bring any news of a punishment for Ben Roethlisberger, we did get a report earlier in the day from Jason La Canfora of NFL.com that the team would "intently listen" to any trade offers that came in for the QB. During the presser, Rooney was quite conspicuous in not shooting down talk of a Roethlisberger trade. This one's moving fast, folks.

After the charges against Ben Roethlisberger in Georgia were dropped, we wondered whether he'd still face punishment from the Pittsburgh Steelers or the league. It's unclear what commissioner Roger Goodell is poised to do, but it's very possible the team could have their own penalty as well. This is especially true given the fact that Steelers ownership is now "shaken" by the "onslaught of fan discontent" over the Roethlisberger situation, per a tweet from Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson.

Taking this to the logical extreme, the Steelers could simply put their Super Bowl champion QB on the market. They proved with the Santonio Holmes trade that they're willing to cut ties with players who are bad apples (regardless of on-field talent), and for a price tag that would raise eyebrows. On the field, Roethlisberger is a match for a lot of teams. He's certainly one of the NFL's most talented QBs, and there are many teams that would jump at the chance to add him to their roster if not for the negative off-field activities.

If the Steelers do wind up moving Roethlisberger, they'll need a Plan B. Back in March, we considered some options, but the first option will likely be Dennis Dixon. It's also possible that the team looks to the draft to find another QB, although probably not with their first pick. This would also have a lot to do with what type of return package of picks the Steelers got from their hypothetical trade partner; they could potentially swing a deal to move up from No. 18 to grab Jimmy Clausen depending on these factors.

It's all hypothetical for now, but these are options the team might have to consider depending on what happens in the next few days.

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