Mike Tomlin won’t be with the Steelers for the 2026 season and it doesn’t sound like Steelers owner Art Rooney II expects Aaron Rodgers to be in Pittsburgh either.
Rodgers signed a one-year deal with the Steelers and said before the season that he was pretty sure it would be his final year as a player in the NFL. Rodgers hedged on that as the year wound down and he said after Monday’s loss that he is not going to rush to make any emotional decisions about his future.
On Wednesday, Rooney was asked at a press conference if he believes Tomlin’s decision to step down will impact any thoughts Rodgers might have about a second season with the team.
“Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it will most likely affect his decision,” Rooney said.
The Steelers have Mason Rudolph and sixth-round Will Howard under contract for the 2026 season and Rooney said he’s “sure the quarterback position will be an important part of this discussion with the candidates” to succeed Tomlin.
Steelers Clips
Generally speaking, a coach who walks away from his contract can’t take a job with another NFL team, absent compensation to his former team.
After posting on that wrinkle regarding the future NFL employment of former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, someone with access to the NFL’s internal policies and procedures rules forwarded the relevant language.
As to Tomlin, or any coach, here’s the answer: It depends on the terms of his contract.
Generally speaking, the rules provide that the team holds the rights to a resigned or retired coach for the remaining duration of the contract. If there’s one year left, it’s one year. If there’s two years left, it’s two. (And so on.) For Tomlin, who has one year left, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Steelers have an option for 2027, which they could (in theory) exercise.
The situation also may be complicated by the specific terms of Tomlin’s contract. The rules expressly acknowledge that the team and the coach may negotiate any terms they want regarding the coach’s and the team’s rights in the event of a resignation or retirement.
Tomlin’s contract could, in theory, toll the remaining term, giving the Steelers indefinite rights to compensation. Tomlin’s contract could, in theory, make him a free agent immediately. It all comes down to the terms of his contract.
And because NFL head-coaching contracts aren’t available publicly or through databases to which many have access (like player contracts), it won’t be easy to know exactly what Tomlin’s contract says.
It’s unlikely that the agreement lets him leave whenever he wants and immediately join another team. The question is whether the team loaded into the document the ability to seek compensation from another team, if he returns after the date by which his contract would have otherwise expired. (Again, the impact of the option year is a complication that can be resolved only by seeing the contract itself.)
So there’s the full and complete answer: There’s no way of knowing the answer as to Tomlin or any coach without seeing the contract. And, given the fact that plenty of contracts aren’t drafted with sufficient precision when it comes to the terms no one really cares about on the way in, there’s a chance Tomlin will have one interpretation of the contract — and the Steelers will have another.
Since he reportedly doesn’t plan to coach in 2026, it’s not an issue for now. By next year, it could be.
Still, after Tomlin’s predecessor, Bill Cowher, resigned 19 years ago, at least some within the Steelers organization believed his return would entitle the Steelers to compensation. If that belief was rooted in contract language that made its way into Tomlin’s contract, that same belief may exist as to him.
As expected, Adam Thielen is calling it a career.
In a post on social media, Thielen formally announced his retirement on Wednesday.
“What a ride it has been!” Thielen’s post reads. “13 years what a blessing! Have been blessed with so many great relationships and mentors over the years that I am forever grateful for! Thank you to everyone who has supported me through the years, it has meant everything to my family and I!”
Thielen, 35, spent the vast majority of his career with the Vikings. Signing with the club as an undrafted free agent in 2013, he spent his first season on the practice squad before becoming a special teams contributor in 2014 and 2015.
But in 2016, Thielen ascended to starting receiver, catching 69 passes for 967 yards with five touchdowns. He followed that with a pair of Pro Bowl seasons in 2017 and 2018.
After Minnesota let him go following the 2022 season, Thielen spent two years with the Panthers. he caught 103 passes for 1,014 yards with four TDs in 2023.
He was traded back to the Vikings at the start of the 2025 regular season, but did not contribute much, catching just eight passes for 69 yards in 11 games. He was released and claimed off waivers by the Steelers, where he finished his career with a two-catch performance in Monday’s playoff loss to the Texans.
Thielen retires at No. 5 on Minnesota’s franchise list with 6,751 receiving yards, No. 4 with 542 receptions, and No. 3 with 55 touchdowns.
Steelers President Art Rooney II said today that Mike Tomlin alone decided that it was time for him to step down as head coach.
“It was his decision,” Rooney said. “I wasn’t shocked but I wasn’t expecting that conversation yesterday, either.”
Rooney said he felt that Tomlin made the best decision for his family, although he said he’ll defer to Tomlin to explain his reasons.
“Probably more of a family-related decision than a football-related decision, but I don’t want to speak for Mike on that,” Rooney said.
Rooney credited Tomlin as the right kind of man to lead the Steelers franchise.
“Mike informed me of his decision to step down as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it was an emotional day for everybody,” Rooney said. “Mike has been a great leader of our franchise for 19 years and led us with toughness, integrity and always reflected the values of our organization.”
Rooney said he appreciated Tomlin doing the job the right way.
“We were always in contention with Mike, and that’s what counts,” Rooney said. “He represented the Steelers with class and dignity every single day.”
The Titans are interviewing a pair of head coaching candidates on Wednesday.
According to multiple reports, they are interviewing former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel in-person and holding a virtual interview with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. In-person interviews with candidates currently employed by other teams will be allowed after the divisional round of the playoffs is complete.
McDaniel was fired by the Dolphins last week and he has also interviewed with the Falcons and Browns. He’s also expected to speak to the Ravens.
Smith spent 10 years as a Titans assistant and moved up to offensive coordinator before becoming the head coach in Atlanta. The Cardinals have also requested an interview with him for their head coaching vacancy.
Whenever former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin returns to coaching at the NFL level, his new team may have to deal with the Steelers. More specifically, they may have to make a deal with the Steelers.
Tomlin exits with a year remaining on his contract. He’s not a free agent. The Steelers hold his rights, which gives them the right to compensation before he can coach another NFL team.
As explained here, it all comes down to the specific contents of his contract.
The practical reality is that, as time passes, the price will fall. Currently, the Steelers would want more than they’d want a year from now, if their right to compensation lingers beyond 2026. They’d want less two years from now. Especially since, if they drive too hard of a bargain, Tomlin can say, “Fine, I’ll come back to work tomorrow.”
As to the possibility that teams currently with vacancies may be inclined to make Tomlin an offer he won’t refuse to skip TV for making an immediate jump to a new city, remember this — those teams need to work out an eventual deal with the Steelers before Tomlin can even be contacted.
The Dolphins learned that lesson the hard way in 2022, when they hatched a Fargo-esque scheme to hire Tom Brady for a front-office job, line up Sean Payton to be the coach, work out a deal with the Saints at the right time, and then have Brady declare his intention to play for his new employer, probably at some point during the offseason program. In August, the Dolphins were whacked with a significant tampering punishment ($1.5 million fine, forfeiture of a first-round pick, and a suspension of owner Stephen Ross and minority owner Bruce Beal, who led the multi-year effort to tamper with Brady).
When Payton eventually became the coach of the Broncos, the Saints got compensation. When Bruce Arians (after a year in TV) became Tampa Bay’s head coach, the Cardinals got compensation. If Bill Cowher had ever coached again, the Steelers would have been entitled to compensation.
Unlike former Ravens coach John Harbaugh, whose firing make him fair game to be hired without compensation to Baltimore, the Steelers still control Tomlin’s NFL employment rights. And while it’s likely that any team thinking about trying to hire Tomlin would find a way to find out whether it’s worth the effort to work out a deal with the Steelers, Tomlin cannot be hired in 2026 by another team unless and until a deal with the Steelers is done.
For the first time since 2007 and only the fourth time since 1969, the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking for a new head coach. The early betting odds say Chris Shula is the favorite to land the job.
Shula, the Rams’ defensive coordinator, is the betting favorite, with odds of +190.
At 39 years old, Shula would fit the profile of what the Steelers are looking for, a young coach who could have the job for many years, just as Mike Tomlin, Bill cowher and Chuck Noll did. Shula has been with the Rams since 2017 and has been around football his entire life, as the son of former Bengals head coach Dave Shula and grandson of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula.
If Shula isn’t the Steelers’ choice, other candidates with listed odds include Brian Flores at +400, Robert Saleh at +700, Curt Cignetti at +750, Jesse Minter at +800 and Vance Joseph at +850.
Mike Tomlin has not shared his post-Steelers plans at this point, but all signs continue to point away from him jumping into another coaching job right away.
There was chatter about Tomlin making a move into broadcasting before he announced that he was stepping down after 19 seasons in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that teams have still reached out to gauge his interest in moving to a new team. Per the report, those teams have been told that Tomlin does not plan to coach in 2026.
Tomlin had time left on his contract with the Steelers, which would mean any change in that plan would involve negotiations on compensation going from a new team to Pittsburgh in exchange for his rights.
At the moment, it doesn’t look like those conversations will be necessary and there could be more information about how all involved will be moving forward when Steelers owner Art Rooney II meets the media on Wednesday.
The Cardinals are taking a look at an experienced head coach for their vacancy.
Arizona has put in a request to interview Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
Smith, 43, has been with Pittsburgh for the last two years after serving as Falcons head coach for three seasons.
Atlanta went 7-10 in each of Smith’s three years as the club’s head coach.
Smith spent most of his coaching career with the Titans, having been with the franchise from 2011-2020. He began as a quality control coach and worked his way up to becoming offensive coordinator in 2019. Tennessee went to the AFC Championship Game in Smith’s first year calling the team’s offensive plays.
The Titans have also put in a request to interview Smith in this cycle.
The Steelers will be conducting their first coaching search since 2007, and only their fourth since Richard Nixon was in the White House.
As it begins, owner Art Rooney II will meet with reporters on Wednesday at noon ET.
Former coach Mike Tomlin isn’t listed as a participant. Which suggests that there may not be a Tomlin farewell press conference, like the one Bill Cowher did in an awesomely awful sweater 19 years ago.
The Steelers have plenty of questions to answer, privately and publicly, as they look for the right person to lead the team. Will they want an offensive coach? A defensive specialist? Someone with ties to Pittsburgh, or to the Steelers?
Although the NFL has a very real ageism issue, the Steelers will presumably want a coach who will be young enough to stick around for up to 20 years, or maybe longer. Chuck Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin were in their 30s when hired.
The Steelers will have plenty of options. Despite the current state of the roster, which hardly cries out “Super Bowl-contending team,” it’s a coveted job in a special city with a zealous and loyal national fan base.
The problem with having plenty of options is that, eventually, the Steelers will have to pick one. Last time around, they reportedly picked Russ Grimm before pivoting to Tomlin.
This time, they’ll want to nail it again, like they did with Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin. And, for the first time ever, it will be Art Rooney II making the decision on his own.
Will he get it right? Every Steelers fan will be hoping he does.
