The Pittsburgh Steelers announced that they have re-signed veteran quarterback Charlie Batch to a one-year contract, financial terms were not disclosed. Batch, 37, has spent the last 10 seasons with the Steelers after beginning his NFL career with the Detroit Lions, who selected him in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. Over his 10 seasons with the Steelers, Batch has started seven of the 31 games he's appeared, completing 120-of-208 pass attempts for 1,594 yards with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Overall, Batch has started 53 games and passed for 10,610 yards with 60 touchdowns and 48 interceptions. With Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon unsigned, Batch will compete with Troy Smith and Jerrod Johnson for the No. 2 spot behind starter Ben Roethlisberger. Source: Mac's Football Blog
why do you guys hate Batch? Every year when Big Ben gets hurt/suspended Batch comes in and does decently well.
batch usually comes in and breaks something. hes a sideline coach, not worth a roster spot anymore. great football mind and a great mentor but damn, time to move on
Batch has very little for an arm any longer and like I said, I'd keep him around as a coach, but as far as his skill set goes, he's got very little to nothing left...and it shows. I love how the Steelers message boards are defending this as a great move to get Ben some veteran back up...lol.
in general, ben stays pretty healthy even though he takes a lot of punishment so it's not the end of the world that the steelers don't have a decent back-up QB. although i agree it would probably make more sense to be able to use a late-round draft pick for a young guy that can perform better when needed and won't cost much money.
