Pouncey: Roethlisberger told us he'll play 3 more years

It appears the Ben Roethlisberger retirement saga won't be a year-to-year thing.

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback contemplated calling it quits before the 2017 season, and having completed the campaign, retirement talk was expected to ratchet back up. But Roethlisberger's teammates have gotten word about their pivot's intentions.

"He told us three (more) years," center Maurkice Pouncey said to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler at the Pro Bowl. "He says he wants to play out his contract, so we'll see."

Roethlisberger has just two years left on his contract, but that didn't seem to worry Pouncey.

"That's even better. Because I've only got two years left on mine," he said.

With Roethlisberger at the helm, the Steelers have been on the cusp of greatness the past four seasons, but each year has ended in playoff disappointment.

They lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of this year's playoffs and appear intent on taking another crack at it in 2018. The team did make one major change, however, replacing outgoing offensive coordinator Todd Haley with quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner.