Pittsburgh

Steelers

Weidl spent the last four seasons as the Steelers’ assistant general manager. According to Kaboly, he “is a well-respected personnel evaluator around league circles.” Having spent 27 years in the NFL, Weidl brings experience to a Falcons front office led by President of Football Matt Ryan. The Falcons will interview Weidl for general manager after the team hired Kevin Stefanski as its new head coach. With that role filled, the general manager candidate interviews will come quicker for a potential hire soon.

The 72-year-old had been with the Steelers for the past 13 years, but was allowed to walk after Mike Tomlin stepped down. He should bring some stability to one of the worst special-teams units in the NFL last year. Todd Bowles has at least gotten off to a good start on fixing some of the issues his team had in 2025 through staff changes here.

McCarthy had interviewed with the Titans, who filled their head coaching vacancy on Tuesday by hiring former 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. McCarthy, who was raised in the Pittsburgh area, would seem to be a natural fit for the Steelers as they look to keep their postseason streak alive even if they are not Super Bowl contenders. McCarthy has shown he can do just that during his stints in Green Bay and Dallas. McCarthy has won 61 percent of his games over 18 years as an NFL head coach. The Steelers are reportedly open to McCarthy’s former QB Aaron Rodgers returning in 2026.

Flores has long been considered a potential replacement for Mike Tomlin, and will now have a chance to meet with the team he spent the 2022 season with under Tomlin. The former Dolphins head coach has spent the last three seasons as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, and over that span, elevated the defense from one of the worst in the league to being a top-10 unit. In addition to fielding head coaching requests from the Steelers and Ravens, Flores has also met with the Commanders to discuss their defensive coordinator vacancy. If he’s unable to land a head coaching job, the option to return to Minnesota remains on the table, but Flores is in high demand after turning in one of his strongest years as a coordinator to date.

“It doesn’t make a ton of sense for him to go into a total rebuild” per Pelissero, who rules out Arizona and Las Vegas as landing spots for McDermott. Pelissero mentions that McDermott would be outside of the normal bucket the Steelers hire from, and says Baltimore “makes a lot of sense” while the Titans brass has mutual ties to McDermott from his work with Andy Reid. Seeing McDermott coach Lamar Jackson might be the funniest idea we’ve ever heard of, so of course we’re for it. The Titans also seem like a reasonable landing spot.

Weaver is also reportedly being targeted by new Giants head coach John Harbaugh to fill his defensive coordinator vacancy, but the long-time coach will continue to field interviews for head-coaching openings for the time being. Weaver has already met with the Ravens for their head-coaching vacancy, but the Steelers are the first time interested in giving him a second look. Weaver’s name has floated around a future head coach for the last several seasons. His Dolphins regressed in 2025 after finishing as a top-10 defensive unit the previous season, but with seven head coaching jobs still on the table, it wouldn’t be surprising if Weaver landed his first gig this offseason.

Smith remains one of the hottest candidates on the market, with multiple teams expressing interest in his services as their offensive coordinator or next head coach. Smith led the Steelers’ to a 15th ranked finish in points scored this season, but they averaged the eighth-fewest yards per game. Unless he returns as the next head coach of the Steelers, his time in the Steel City will likely come to an end in the near future.

Schefter said Rodgers coming back to the Steelers for another season remains “unlikely” after head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down last week, but “Steelers players are more than open to Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh; they want the four-time league MVP back and conveyed as much to various members of the Steelers organization during their exit meetings last week.” Rodgers, 42, seemed considerably less miserable during his 2025 season in Pittsburgh after two difficult years with the Jets. Schefter said Rodgers, as usual, “wants to take time away before deciding his future.” Rodgers ranked 23rd out of 36 qualifying QBs in EPA per drop back in 2025.

As Schefter notes, McCarthy was born in Pittsburgh and worked under Steelers GM Omar Khan during his time in New Orleans in the early 2000s. For a team that just moved on from Mike Tomlin because of his recent lack of playoff success, McCarthy would be a bit of an odd choice. He made the playoffs three times during five seasons in Dallas but managed to win just one postseason game. McCarthy was, however, more successful in Green Bay. He won a Super Bowl over the Steelers and made the NFC Championship three other times. His track record in the postseason is a mixed bag at best, but the Steelers could do worse in this head coaching cycle.

While Rodgers’ future in the NFL remains uncertain, it’s become clear he’s unlikely to continue quarterbacking the Steelers next season. Rapoport’s report that the 42-year-old signal caller isn’t expected to return to Pittsburgh comes on the heels of Steelers owner Art Rooney II saying as much at his press conference earlier this week. Rooney made it clear that Rodgers joined the Steelers last year to play for Mike Tomlin, who stepped down immediately following the team’s loss in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Without Tomlin, there’s almost no chance of the Rodgers-Steelers partnership continuing. If Rodgers does ultimately decide to keep playing, there should be plenty of openings this offseason with the draft and free agency light on starting options. He’s still one final stop in Minnesota away from completing the Full Favre, though he engaged in discussions with the Vikings last offseason.