Steelers Now
A week ago, Pittsburgh Steelers fans loudly implored their team to get rid of Mike Tomlin. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport believes the historic franchise won’t do so.
“Mike Tomlin is not going to get fired by the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Rapoport said Sunday morning. “It is not going to happen, based on his success, based on his relationship with Art Rooney and the organization. If Tomlin is not the coach of the Steelers in 2026, my understanding is it’ll be because that is what he wants.”
Rapoport sketched out what it might look like if Tomlin chose not to lead the team for a 20th season.
“He would remove himself as Steelers coach, he would probably go do some media or something like that, they would hire a new coach, then he would go into the marketplace in 2027, become a coach of some other team and then the Steelers would get compensation for that,” Rapoport said. “By the way, Tomlin is signed through the 2026 season. There’s also a team option for 2027, which the team needs to pick up by this March. I would expect them to do that.
“As one source told me yesterday, if the Steelers just win today, all of this probably goes away.”
Entering Sunday’s pivotal road matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, Tomlin has a 189-113-2 career record. With a win over John Harbaugh’s side, Tomlin would match Dan Reeves for the 10th-most head coaching wins in NFL history. Tomlin currently sits five away from surpassing Chuck Noll’s 193 career victories.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Expected to Pick Up Mike Tomlin’s Contract Option
