NFL's decision due on Roethlisberger 
 
 Steelers getting trade feelers, make deal for Leftwich 
 
 While they are expecting to learn today what punishment Ben Roethlisberger will receive from National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell, the Steelers have received trade feelers from other teams and have not ruled out the possibility of dealing their two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has learned. 
 
 To gird for a possible suspension for Mr. Roethlisberger, the Steelers traded a seventh-round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tuesday night for quarterback Byron Leftwich, who was Mr. Roethlisberger's backup during their 2008 Super Bowl season. 
 
 "I'm happy to be back," Mr. Leftwich told the Post-Gazette shortly after the trade was announced by the Steelers. "I have a big ol' smile on my face." 
 
 It is not believed the Steelers are actively seeking to trade Mr. Roethlisberger, nor are they close to doing what they did with Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes, who was traded for a fifth-round pick to the New York Jets because the team was planning to release him anyway. 
 
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 Nonetheless, the possibility Mr. Roethlisberger could be traded, provided the price is right, is not being discounted by the team. 
 
 The Steelers are expecting to hear today what punishment Mr. Roethlisberger will receive from Mr. Goodell in connection with an alleged sexual assault incident in Georgia. 
 
 Mr. Roethlisberger was not charged in the case in Milledgeville, Ga., in which he was accused by a 20-year-old college student of assaulting her in a nightclub bathroom. But he is expected to be suspended by the league, perhaps two to four games, for violating the league's personal conduct policy. 
 
 Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a news conference Thursday that the Steelers would work with Mr. Goodell to determine the punishment and that no further discipline would be administered. 
 
 Mr. Rooney said Mr. Roethlisberger is prepared to accept the "consequences." 
 
 At the time of the news conference, the Steelers were unaware of the details of the alleged incident that were contained in a police report that was made public Friday. 
 
 Mr. Goodell's announcement would come a day before the start of the NFL draft -- a draft in which director of football operations Kevin Colbert has said the Steelers do not need a quarterback. 
 
 Mr. Roethlisberger was on the field Tuesday for his second day of offseason workouts with his teammates. He did not speak with the media after practice. 
 
 But, it is apparent his tenuous situation is one of the reasons the Steelers made a trade with the Buccaneers to bring back Mr. Leftwich, who will join Dennis Dixon and veteran Charlie Batch as backup quarterbacks. 
 
 "They want me there and whatever they want me to do, I'll do," said Mr. Leftwich, who was planning to drive from his hometown of Washington, D.C., to meet with the Steelers today. "You don't make a trade for a guy for no reason." 
 
 The Steelers re-signed Mr. Batch last month and have expressed confidence in the progress of Mr. Dixon, who will enter his third season. Mr. Leftwich was likely re-acquired as insurance for whatever happens to Mr. Roethlisberger. 
 
 "I don't know Ben's situation," said Mr. Leftwich, who will go to Marshall University Thursday to be installed into the school's Hall of Fame this weekend. 
 
 Mr. Leftwich, 30, completed 21 of 36 passes for 303 yards, two touchdowns and a 104.3 passer rating when he played for the Steelers in 2008. After joining the Steelers in training camp, Mr. Leftwich had his best game with the team Nov. 3, 2008, against the Washington Redskins, when he completed 7 of 10 passes for 129 yards, one touchdown and a 145.8 passer rating in one half of play in relief of an injured Mr. Roethlisberger. 
 
 Mr. Leftwich was originally drafted seventh overall in the 2003 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He spent his first four seasons in Jacksonville (2003-06) and one season in Atlanta (2007) before signing with the Steelers in 2008. 
 
 Mr. Leftwich signed with Tampa Bay in April 2009 and started the first three games of the season for the Buccaneers before being placed on the reserve/injured list with an injured elbow. He has completed 900 of 1,545 passes (58.3 percent) for 10,218 yards, 58 touchdowns, 41 interceptions and a 79.6 passer-rating in his seven NFL seasons. He has started in 49 of the 57 games played in his NFL career. 
 
 First published on April 21, 2010 at 12:00 am 

 Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was suspended Wednesday for six games for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, the league announced. 
 
 Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down the punishment a week after prosecutors decided not to charge Roethlisberger in a case involving a 20-year-old college student who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Georgia nightclub in March. 
 
 Roethlisberger also was ordered to undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaluation. Goodell will look at Roethlisberger's progress before the season and might consider reducing the suspension to four games. 
 
 However, a failure to comply with the NFL's ruling might lead to a longer suspension. 
 
 Roethlisberger is barred from attending any Steelers on-field, offseason activity until he completes the evaluation. He can participate in training camp and preseason games this summer as long as he is cleared by the evaluators and Goodell. 
 
 Roethlisberger is the first player suspended by Goodell under the conduct policy who hasn't been arrested or charged with a crime. 
 
 "He was disappointed by the number of games [of the suspension], as was I, frankly," Roethlisberger's attorney, David Cornwell, said Thursday on ESPN Radio's "Mike & Mike in the Morning." 
 
 Steelers president Art Rooney II said Wednesday, "I agree and support the decision the commissioner made today." 
 
 The Steelers have begun contacting teams about trading a top-10 pick for Roethlisberger, an NFL source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. The Steelers have called the Rams, 49ers, Raiders, Bills, Jaguars, Seahawks and Browns, the source said. 
 
 The Rams and Bills are known to be not interested, the source said. 
 
 Rooney didn't deny that the team was shopping Roethlisberger, but didn't verify the report, either, when he answered a question during Wednesday's media conference call. 
 
 "We really can't answer questions about trades, particularly [right before the NFL draft]," Rooney said. 
 
 What the Steelers can't quantify is what effect Roethlisberger's absence will have on a team one season removed from winning its second Super Bowl in four years. 
 
 "You're going to have stumbling blocks," wide receiver Antwaan Randle El said. "You've got to be able to stay together and move through it, because if you don't, you'll have the problems later on." 
 
 There are plenty of championship pieces remaining from that team, including 18 starters, for the Steelers to contend again. The schedule appears to be accommodating. The Steelers play three teams that didn't make the playoffs this past season -- the Falcons, Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans -- plus the division rival Baltimore Ravens in their first four games. 
 
 Pittsburgh hosts the Cleveland Browns in its fifth game and travels to Miami to face the Dolphins in its sixth game. The Steelers have a bye in Week 5, meaning Roethlisberger might have two weeks to practice before he plays, if his suspension is reduced. 
 
 There's nothing to suggest NFL schedule makers were aware of the length of Roethlisberger's suspension in advance. Still, the first of the Steelers' five prime-time games isn't until Oct. 31 -- or after his potential return. 
 
 Some teammates don't doubt he will be back, either, despite the enormity of the suspension. Or the animosity that exists among a Steelers fan base that is disgusted with his behavior -- to some, a quarterback sack now means throwing Roethlisberger's No. 7 jersey into a trash can. 
 
 "I think if Ben has shown anything, it's that he's able to recover whenever he has been faced with adversity," safety Troy Polamalu said. "Everything is not always peachy. Not everybody has that unblemished image. If he has that repentance, the way he is going to have to have it to continue to live his life, this will be the great example of that." 
 
 Sitting out all six games would cost Roethlisberger an estimated $2.8 million of his $102 million total deal, though the penalty could be shortened to four games for good behavior. 
 
 The Steelers also were ordered to remit a portion of Roethlisberger's salary to the NFL for having two players suspended for violations of the league's personal conduct or drug policies. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes was suspended for four games before being traded to the New York Jets this month. 
 
 A second player being suspended requires the offending team to pay the NFL 25 percent of the second player's forfeited salary, with the maximum amount being $200,000.
– Pittsburgh fans can forget any hope that Ben Roethlisberger will get off with a slap on the wrist. The league today suspended Big Ben for the first 6 games of next season for violating its personal conduct policy, reports ESPN. Some in the Steelers organization had actually feared an 8-game penance over the rape allegations. Sources also reveal that the Steelers have been calling other teams to see if any of them would deal a top 10 pick for the quarterback, and at least one team has debated such a trade internally. The Steelers aren't precisely eager to trade Roethlisberger, but would do it if the price was right, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.