PITTSBURGH -- Team president Art Rooney II said last month that he wants quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to retire as a Steeler.
General manager Kevin Colbert echoed those sentiments Wednesday.
"It's unanimous that we want Ben to be a Steeler for the rest of his career," Colbert said on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. "There's nobody that I'd rather have or the franchise would rather have than Ben. He's won for us, there's still a lot of tread of the tires.
"We feel good about where he is, we feel great about how he finished last year and we're looking to build off of that."
Roethlisberger's contract has two years left -- a time when the Steelers have traditionally re-signed quarterbacks to longer deals.
The Steelers haven't indicated that they are in a hurry to negotiate a new deal with Roethlisberger, who will have a cap hit of just under $18.9 million in 2014, but they have made it clear that one will get done.
The Steelers have some work to do to get in compliance with the salary cap by March 11, as well as have enough money to sign free agents, whether their own or those from other teams. With a defense that is in transition, the Roethlisberger-led offense will be counted on to lead the Steelers back to the playoffs following consecutive 8-8 seasons.
Roethlisberger played every snap in 2013 and set a franchise record for completions in a season (375) while also throwing for 4,261 yards and becoming the Steelers' all-time leader in touchdown passes.
Roethlisberger, who turns 32 at the beginning of March, took the offense to another level after the Steelers started running their no-huddle offense extensively. They averaged 27.9 points in their final eight games and went 6-2 in the second half of the season.
"We're counting on Ben to do his part to play, if not as good as he did last year than better," Colbert said, "because we certainly believe that can happen and we're hoping that it does."