One of the most impressive streaks in NFL history is in jeopardy of coming to an end this season. The Pittsburgh Steelers are on the verge of having a losing season for the first time since 2003 when they went 6-10 with Bill Cowher at the helm. That season’s performance led to them selecting Ben Roethlisberger 11th overall in the 2004 NFL Draft and the rest is history.
Head coach Mike Tomlin has gone the first 15 seasons in his position without a losing campaign, which is the longest streak in the history of the league. Unless the Steelers can pull off a small miracle in the last four games and go undefeated, that streak will snap.
Losing isn’t something that the Steelers are used to and there is a portion of the fan base that is not handling this well. It is one thing to fall short in the postseason, but not even getting there is a totally different story. There are plenty of fans around the NFL that would kill to have a coach of Tomlin’s caliber leading their team, as fans in Pittsburgh have been spoiled by their extended stretch of success.
Is there a chance that the organization actually moves on from Tomlin this off-season? While making his regularly scheduled appearance on 93.7 The Fan’s PM Team/w Poni & Mueller, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio shared his shocking opinion on what he believes could happen this offseason in Pittsburgh.
Florio believes that the Carolina Panthers are a team to keep an eye on as a trade partner with the Steelers looking to acquire Tomlin to be their head coach. The Steelers and Panthers face off this weekend and Carolina’s owner, David Tepper, used to be a minority owner for Pittsburgh.
“Another person to keep in mind, not necessarily for the Panthers, is Bill Belichick,” Florio continued. “There are storm clouds brewing, they wouldn’t fire him or let him walk away with no compensation. Maybe Tomlin to Carolina, it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens. I am surprised that vehicle isn’t used more often to hire highly accomplished Super Bowl winning coaches.”
That is certainly a bombshell prediction for Florio, who has always been a supporter of Tomlin as the Steelers’ head coach. However, he has not always been as big of an advocate for the Rooneys, who he believes would ignore the fan base being vocal about a change and would never have the stomach to fire Tomlin. Trading him away would alleviate some of that backlash as they would also receive some level of draft compensation in return for him to help get the team back on track as contenders.
