The backdrop here are continued rumors about Tomlin’s own future in Pittsburgh. Fox NFL insider Jay Glazer talked about this earlier on Sunday, reporting that several teams around the NFL are holding out hope that the Steelers opt to trade their long-time head coach. “All I am telling you is that Mike Tomlin’s name has been brought up an awful lot lately,” Glazer noted.
This comes on the heels of another report indicating that Pittsburgh intends to offer Tomlin an extension during the offseason. It’s no surprise that we’re hearing different reports on Tomlin. He’s been Pittsburgh’s head coach since all the way back in 2007 and is the second-longest tenured head coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick. Should Tomlin remain with the Steelers, he’ll likely take over as the longest tenured with Belichick seemingly playing out his final season in New England.
Whether that changes moving forward remains to be seen. There is some thought that the Steelers’ brass is not happy about the direction of the organization. Under Tomlin, Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since all the way back in 2016. They are a pedestrian 26-22-1 since the start of the 2021 NFL season. As for a potential destination, the Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers have fired their head coaches this season. All three could make sense for Mike Tomlin.
