Roethlisberger takes a pay cut

Ben Roethlisberger is returning for an 18th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and is taking a pay cut to do it. The team and the twotime Super Bowl winner announced Thursday they had agreed on a new contract that ensures the 39-year-old will be back in 2021.

Financial details were not available, though the Steelers made no secret of the need for Roethlisberger to take a pay cut to ease some of the burden of his NFL-high $41.25-million salary-cap hit for 2021.

NFL Network, citing anonymous sources, said Roethlisberger’s new deal will essentially pay him $14 million this season and adds four voidable years to spread out the dead money.

The Rams made moves to ensure the return of inside linebacker Travin Howard and offensive lineman Coleman Shelton, tendering one-year contracts to the exclusive rights free agents, the team announced.

Players with fewer than three accrued NFL seasons on expiring contracts are regarded as exclusive rights free agents. Players cannot negotiate with other teams if their original team offers a one-year contract at the league minimum for their credited seasons.

— Gary Klein

The field for the Kansas City Chiefs will have a new name. The Government Employees Health Assn. bought the naming rights and the stadium’s full name will be GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for 2021 . ... The New York Giants cut Golden Tate in a move that clears $6.1 million in cap space. Tate was to earn $8.4 million in 2021 . ... Linebacker Thomas Davis and tight end Greg Olsen will sign one-day contracts to retire as members of the Carolina Panthers . ... The New Orleans Saints cut 34-year-old punter Thomas Morstead, who was a rookie when the franchise won its only Super Bowl in the 2009 season.