Although the Steelers are 7-7 and still in the playoff picture with a pivotal game against the Joe Burrow-less Bengals coming up this holiday weekend, speculation about the exit of Mike Tomlin as the coach of the Steelers has continued to pick up steam. The chatter from some Steeler fans for Tomlin to part ways from the team has been heard for a few years following a recent lack of playoff success following the team's last Super Bowl appearance in 2010.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk published an article entitled “Will Mike Tomlin return to the Steelers in 2024”  addressing the widening speculation behind Tomlin & the Steeler's possible split. Florio laid out the stakes for the dismissal and signaled that it could come down to how he handles the final weeks of the season.

“For the first time since Tomlin became the coach of the team in early 2007, it feels like a divorce is coming,” Florio said in his piece. “And it’s not that the Steelers would fire Tomlin. If a split occurs, it will happen either because Tomlin wants out — or because another team looking for a new head coach (Commanders, e.g.) calls the Steelers to initiate the process for essentially pulling off a trade.”

Florio also said in his piece, “Regardless of how it plays out, there’d more than enough smoke to make the teams that will be looking for a coach to at least make the call to Pittsburgh in order to see whether Tomlin would be available. As a practical matter, the owners of the teams that could be changing coaches are likely already working the back channels to find out: (1) whether Tomlin would want the job; and (2) whether the Steelers would part ways with him.”

Tomlin became the head coach of the Steelers in 2007 following the departure of Bill Cowher. Tomlin immediately continued the success of Cowher, leading the Steelers to a Super Bowl XLIII victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The team has seen massive success under Tomlin and have been in the playoff hunt nearly every year that he's been at the helm of the franchise.

Mike Tomlin & the Steelers host the Bengals on Saturday at 4:30 PM EST.