Mike Tomlin’s seat in Pittsburgh has felt warm before. But this year, it’s different. The Black and Gold are teetering between playoff hope and a meltdown. The team’s 5-4 record feels hollow after that 25-10 beating from the Los Angeles Chargers. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers called out the team’s third-down blunders, and the crowd felt that sting. The question burning across Blitzburgh: Is this finally the year the Steelers move on from their long-time boss? 

According to one insider, the reason for the front office’s patience may have less to do with this season’s performance and more to do with a major NFL event on Pittsburgh’s horizon.

“Insider theory: Great Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly says one reason why the Steelers won’t move on from Mike Tomlin after the season is because the 2026 NFL Draft is in Pittsburgh. Art Rooney II doesn’t want that hanging over their heads with big event here. Per Kaboly.” Andrew Fillipponi revealed on X. 

It’s vintage Pittsburgh logic. Why rock the franchise before hosting the league’s next marquee event in your own backyard? And team president Art Rooney II has made his stance crystal clear. He’s frustrated, yes, but firing Tomlin won’t make this team start winning.

“(Mike) still think he has the strengths that he always had in terms of being able to lead a team,” Rooney said in January.

In Rooney’s eyes, the league’s longest-tenured coach remains the steady voice the locker room still listens to. The bigger issue lies at quarterback, and Rooney knows it. Pittsburgh went from Russell Wilson and Justin Fields tag-teaming under center to Rodgers holding the fort. The offense still sputters, but at least there’s accountability now.

Tomlin, for his part, doesn’t seem like a man on the way out. He signed an extension through 2027 and still finds a way to keep this franchise above .500. He has never had a losing regular-season record in his 19 seasons coaching the Steelers.

Former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley even backed him this week.

“This is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever been around. Smartest intellectually, smartest football. He’s phenomenal…All these Pittsburghers [who say], ‘We need a new coach.’ No. Just get a quarterback that can play, and continue to find good players,” Haley said.

With Pittsburgh hosting the 2026 Draft and Mike Tomlin known for playing his cards right during drafts, firing him now would seem like a bad move. Still, some feel it’s time for a change.

Mike Tomlin’s future is in flux

Not everyone in the Steel City is buying Rooney’s faith. The murmurs are getting louder. Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano summed up the growing tension.

“There have been rumblings for a few years now that the Steelers and Tomlin will agree to part ways soon, and once again they are growing louder.” 

He pointed out that despite stacking the roster around a 41-year-old quarterback, the team’s offense and defense both sit near the league’s bottom four. For a Super Bowl-hungry city, that sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

“The Steelers are really staring at a possible rebuilding situation, and certainly a new, younger quarterback. Would the 53-year-old Tomlin even want to stick around for that? Clearly, he has to sense that it might be time for the players in that locker room to hear from another voice. If they miss the playoffs, don’t dismiss the idea of Tomlin coaching elsewhere (hello, New York?) next year,” Vacchiano added.

Still, Tomlin has earned more leash than most in this business. Maybe this isn’t about the hot seat at all. Maybe it’s about what’s next, drafting the future inside Acrisure Stadium, fixing the quarterback puzzle, and letting the man who built Blitzburgh steer it for just a little longer.