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Eight burning questions heading into the 2017 NFL season

Can Marshawn Lynch help lead his Raiders to the Super Bowl?

4. Big Ben’s swan song?

Ben Roethlisberger strongly considered retirement following last season. And while he has decided to return for the 2017 campaign, the future Hall of Famer has not committed beyond one more season. More than anything, this puts Pittsburgh in a win-now situation. After all, the likes of rookie Joshua Dobbs and former mid-round pick Landry Jones don’t inspire much confidence behind him on the depth chart.

Maybe Big Ben sees the writing on the wall. Sure the Steelers are loaded at the skill positions with Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. But Bell himself still hasn’t signed the franchise tag tender and could potentially hold out into training camp (more on that here).

Even if he were to return earlier, last season’s three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy lingers over Bell. Another off-field issue, and he’s looking at a 10-game suspension. Contractually, there’s a scenario in play here that suggests Bell will move on after the 2017 season.

Meanwhile, the rest of the AFC continues to get stronger. By pinpointing areas of weakness on both sides of the ball, the Oakland Raiders have to be seen as the biggest threats to New England in the conference. Houston may have just jumped Pittsburgh simply by making the move for Deshaun Watson in this year’s draft. At the very least, Watson gives the squad an upward trajectory moving forward.

We then have the mighty Patriots, who played the rest of the NFL like a fiddle during the offseason — adding the likes of Mike Gillislee, Brandin Cooks, Dwayne Allen and Stephon Gilmore to an already loaded roster.

With 13 years of experience under his belt and a ton of wear and tear on his 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame, there’s a real chance this could be Big Ben’s swan song in the Steel City. If so, we can expect him to do everything to lead the Steelers to another Super Bowl under his watch. The question here is whether the remainder of the Steelers’ roster is capable of doing just that. We’re not too sure.

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