Cole: Roethlisberger suspension to be announced Tuesday

Many felt that a suspension for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger would not come till after Thursday’s NFL Draft kicks off, but now Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports! reports that the suspension, which I have felt all along will be two games, will be announced by commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday.

Here’s the tidbit from Cole about the announcement of the suspension:

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to suspend Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on Monday or Tuesday as a result of the recent sexual assault investigation in Milledgeville, Ga., multiple sources have indicated to Yahoo! Sports.

Though the Ocmulgee Circuit District Attorney announced last Monday that Roethlisberger wouldn’t be charged in the case, sources close to the quarterback said he is unlikely to fight the punishment.

Roethlisberger, who apologized following last week’s announcement for the negative attention the incident garnered, would prefer to put the matter to rest as quickly as possible, three sources close to him said.

“Ben understands where this is going and he knows there’s punishment he’ll have to take,” one of the aforementioned sources close to Roethlisberger said. “He knows how much this hurt the team and the league. He wants to make this right.”

While NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said he has been given no timetable for a decision, the question remains whether Goodell will keep the suspension to one or two games or make it four games or longer. It is also unknown whether the Steelers will levy an additional penalty upon Roethlisberger of if a punishment will be factored into the league’s suspension. Over the weekend, two league sources said Goodell was growing angrier by the day as more information from the investigation became public.

The Steelers have said all along they have had plenty of contact with the NFL about the matter, so an additional couple of games on top of what the NFL gives him probably won’t happen, if it’s two games like I have thought it would be, I would say the league basically is saying they will suspend him a game, and the Steelers a game.

Nevertheless, the team would like to get this matter dealt with as well, so they can begin to plan life without the franchise QB, no matter how long it may be when the 2010 season kicks off.