The Baltimore Ravens eliminated the Pittsburgh Steelers from the playoffs 28-14 in their AFC wild card round matchup on Saturday.
Pittsburgh was held scoreless across three quarters and trailed 21-0 at halftime. The Steelers now head into the offseason likely questioning what the future holds for the franchise under longtime head coach Mike Tomlin.
“There’s going to be chatter and conversation about Mike Tomlin’s future. The people in the city of Pittsburgh, a great majority of people want change there,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “It’s not the way the Steelers operate. And I think people across the National Football League know how great a coach Mike Tomlin is, but that doesn’t change the tone in the city.”
One avenue of chance that Schefter suggested would be in a potential trade to another NFL team. However, he revealed that Tomlin has a no-trade clause in his contract with the Steelers. If he ever were to be dealt, he would have to be on board with the move and it would have to be with Tomlin’s permission.
“Look, this is a team that’s gonna have to go through any number of key decisions this offseason,” Schefter continued. “Quarterback is one of them. But I also remember when this team faced questions, when Bill Cowher, later in his career, [the fans] wanted him gone, and the Rudy family never wavered. They kept him on, and he wound up winning the Super Bowl.”
Whether that ends up being the case for Tomlin remains to be seen. He has won a Super Bowl in Pittsburgh, which happened in 2009. His team made another appearance in the big game in 2011 against the Green Bay Packers, but have not returned to the Super Bowl in over a decade.
Tomlin’s 8–11 record in the playoffs with the Steelers is another gripe fans have had in recent seasons. They’ve made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons and have exited during the wild card round each time. 2017 was the last time Tomlin coaches his team to a divisional round matchup, and they haven’t won the divison since 2020.
Pressure has been mounting on the Steelers for years to succeed in the postseason, and Saturday’s early exit appeared to only add to the mood in and around Pittsburgh. In that case, we could potentially find out what’s next for Tomlin and the Steelers sooner rather than later as the teams begins its offseason a bit earlier than anticipated.
