The Steelers face a busy offseason on their labor front, starting with the biggest of them all, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger has two years left on his contract precisely the time when the Steelers extended their two previous starting quarterbacks Tommy Maddox and Kordell Stewart. The quarterback and his agent Ryan Tollner had hoped to negotiate an extension a year ago but were told at the time the Steelers wanted to wait until 2008. Talks are not likely to start immediately, but the sides likely will at least schedule some times for them to begin. Roethlisberger is due a roster bonus of $2.95 million early in March. That number could be wrapped into a signing bonus and spread out for salary cap purposes if a contract is signed before then. If not, it will count as hard numbers against their 2008 salary cap although that is not seen as an impediment to a long-term extension. "We'll see; we'll wait until they feel right," Tollner said yesterday of the timetable for negotiations. "I'm optimistic. Ben wants to be in Pittsburgh long term."