Mike Tomlin’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed more in question than ever after ESPN’s Adam Schefter dropped a report on Saturday evening about a 2027 team option year in his contract. It at least opened the door for a scenario where the two sides could possibly split after this season. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac shared additional information about the situation via 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann.
“First of all, that’s coming from Mike Tomlin’s agent because it’s not coming from the Steelers because they don’t discuss anything that’s going to happen after the season, during the season. So from that end, I know where that’s coming from,” Dulac said Tuesday. “The stuff about the option, I mean, I’m not going to sit here and dispute it because I know this, a couple contract extensions ago, they gave Mike Tomlin, it was a one-year extension with a one-year option. And ever since then I just assumed, and maybe even before that, there was always an option clause in his contract.”
In 2015 the Steelers signed Mike Tomlin to a two-year extension that ran through 2018. That option was slightly different as it was reportedly a vesting option triggered by a specific win total for an additional year in 2019. He then got extended through 2020 in August 2017. The Steelers don’t typically disclose any details about coach contracts when they are signed, but we know of at least one other option clause in Tomlin’s previous deals. It’s possible they have all contained an option over the last three or four contracts, which makes Schefter’s report less intriguing.
The timing of the report, and the fact that NFL Network’s insiders reported the same just hours later, is what was more interesting. As Dulac speculated, it seems most likely that information came from Tomlin’s camp. There was virtually nothing to gain for the Rooney family or the Steelers to put that out there before a critical game against the Baltimore Ravens for control of the AFC North. That’s not how the Rooney family does business.
Why would Tomlin’s agent put that out at a time like this? Your guess is as good as mine because it certainly didn’t alleviate pressure on his client. Had the Steelers lost on Sunday, it would have been the talk of the town for the entire next week.
“Do I expect anything to happen? No, I don’t. But I’ve always said Mike Tomlin will be gone when Mike Tomlin decides he’s had enough,” Dulac said. “I don’t see the Steelers making any move in that regard unless the complete bottom would fall out. And I don’t see that happening.”
Ian Rapoport stated the same thing, that Tomlin will leave when he decides to leave. He also said that if the Steelers won on Sunday, all of this would go away. They did, and now they are in control of the AFC North and a home playoff game for the first time in years. Unless the Steelers lose four straight and miss the playoffs, it seems unlikely that change is coming.