Pockets of Pittsburgh Steelers fans and local media personalities called for the club to part ways with head coach Mike Tomlin following his latest playoff defeat. However, Steelers owner and team president Art Rooney II made it quite clear in January that he never considered firing or trading Tomlin.
For a piece published Thursday, Steelers insider Mike DeFabo of The Athletic touched upon Tomlin’s future beyond the 2025 season.
“After the Steelers were blown out by the Bills in the wild-card round in January 2024, extending the postseason win drought to seven seasons, the team responded by giving coach Mike Tomlin a raise that made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league,” DeFabo explained. “If the Rooney family doesn’t like eating a couple hundred thousand dollars by firing a position coach, there’s no way they’d pay Tomlin tens of millions not to coach. …I honestly can’t envision a scenario in which Tomlin isn’t the coach in 2026, no matter how badly this season goes.”
The three-year contract extension associated with the previously mentioned raise reportedly included a no-trade clause. In short, Tomlin would essentially be doing the Steelers a favor next winter by accepting a trade to a different team rather than forcing Pittsburgh to fire him if Rooney truly wants to make a change at that time.
“Maybe Tomlin would be willing to waive his no-trade clause,” DeFabo said. “But that also seems unlikely.”
Outsiders who view Tomlin, a one-time Super Bowl champion head coach, as one of the best leaders in the sport often mention that he’s never had a losing season since he started his Steelers tenure in 2007. On the other hand, Tomlin’s critics point out that his teams also haven’t earned a single playoff win since the 2016 season.
Somewhat interestingly, DeFabo offered his prediction on the same day that Andrew Marchand of The Athletic mentioned that Tomlin could be “the next $100M NFL TV analyst” if a top job opens at one of the league’s
major media partners after the 2025 season concludes. Marchand was sure to add that Tomlin “has shown no inkling about exiting the sidelines,” but perhaps the 52-year-old would welcome the payday that would come with accepting a lighter schedule as a media personality.
