 | Steelers do not plan on drafting elite QB |
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
When the Steelers start putting together their draft board next week, they will follow the plan they had before Ben Roethlisberger got accused of sexual assault for the second time in the past eight months.
Director of football operations Kevin Colbert said Sunday that the Steelers have ruled out taking a quarterback with an early-round pick in next month's draft.
"That position appears to be set," Colbert said at the NFL owners meeting.
The Steelers' approach at quarterback - they hope to re-sign Charlie Batch to provide depth behind Roethlisberger and promising third-year man Dennis Dixon - is consistent with the stance team president Art Rooney II took last week.
Rooney said the Steelers have "a little bit of a luxury of time" and are going to let the investigation of Roethlisberger play out before entertaining contingency plans at quarterback.
A 20-year-old college student has accused Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her in a Milledgeville, Ga., night club on March 5. Roethlisberger, one of only 10 quarterbacks to win two Super Bowls, also has a civil suit alleging sexual assault against him pending in Nevada.
Rooney has met with Roethlisberger since a night of bar-hopping in Milledgeville, not far from where Roethlisberger owns a vacation home, took a wrong turn. Rooney and the Steelers have remained tight lipped on the subject, although coach Mike Tomlin told the NFL Network here Saturday: "I'm highly concerned for our franchise and for Ben personally."
Tomlin did not meet with Pittsburgh reporters yesterday as he took his family to one of Disney World's theme parks.
Rooney, asked yesterday about his concern for Roethlisberger and the franchise founded by his grandfather, declined comment.
Roethlisberger's predicament could emerge as the talk of owners meetings. An uncertain and contentious labor situation is a hot-button issue, but owners are prohibited by commissioner Roger Goodell from commenting.
That leaves something of a vacuum that could be filled by Roethlisberger's legal situation - and how an image-conscious league and franchise deal with the accusations that his lawyers say are not true.
Goodell has a Q&A session with reporters today, and Tomlin will take part in a media breakfast tomorrow with the rest of the AFC coaches.
If Roethlisberger is charged in Georgia, he could be subject to a fine or suspension for violation of the league's personal conduct policy, which Goodell enacted in 2007.
Goodell has suspended players before they have been convicted of anything, but he usually takes such action after those players have repeated run-ins with the law.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_672803.html
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