For the first time in 20 years, an NFL season is approaching without Mike Tomlin serving as one of the 32 head coaches. Undoubtedly, he’ll be at the top of multiple wish lists when the 2026 hiring cycle commences in less than five months.
Will Tomlin’s foray into TV be a one-year thing? Cris Collinsworth posed that question to Tomlin in a fourth-quarter visit to the booth during Thursday night’s Hall of Fame game.
“I haven’t thought a whole lot about it yet, because I don’t feel like I’m missing anything yet,” Tomlin said. “You know, when those regular-season balls start snapping, that’s when I’ll start, you know, getting a little twitch a little bit.”
He’s been part of the NFL’s story, dating back to 2001, his first year as an assistant coach with the Buccaneers. For now, he says, “It’s good to be a part of the storytelling.”
Only he will know whether that’s enough. For Hall of Famer John Madden, who retired from coaching at 42, he never went back. Sean Payton, who would cement his own status in Canton if he becomes the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises, stayed away for only one year.
One key question surely will be whether the right situation emerges for Tomlin. Most jobs that become vacant have become vacant for a reason. Dysfunctional teams have a hard time flipping the switch to non-dysfunctional.
Still, look at the land rush that emerged for former Ravens coach John Harbaugh, once it was clear that he was ready to keep coaching. Tomlin would have experienced a similar dynamic, if he had been interested in continuing immediately.
The moment he decides to look around, teams will come looking for him. And not just teams that have vacancies. For some owners, the question of whether they could swap out the current head coach for Tomlin could be a key factor in the decision as to whether they’ll keep the coach they already have.
If Tomlin thrives, as he will, on Football Night in America, some of those owners will become even more determined to make a run at getting the man who never had a losing season in 19 years on the job.
So the question posed by Collinsworth to Tomlin won’t be going away, especially since Tomlin has set forth a key benchmark for his overall assessment as to whether he’ll return: When the regular-season balls start snapping.
They start snapping one month from today, when the Seahawks hang a banner before facing the Patriots in a Super Bowl LX rematch.
With Tomlin in the stadium to soak it all in.
Steelers Clips
The Commanders are adding a player to their offensive line.
According to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, Washington is expected to sign Max Scharping.
Scharping, 29, spent most of the last two seasons with the Steelers. But before that, he was on the Commanders’ practice squad for about a month.
A second-round pick in 2019, Scharping has appeared in 81 games with 33 starts for Houston, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh.
He has also spent time with the Eagles.
The Steelers received some positive news on the injury front for one of their rookies.
Head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters on Friday that offensive tackle Max Iheanachor will be out of practice for the next few days with an undisclosed injury. But, he is set to return early next week.
“He won’t go today,” McCarthy said, via Brian Batko of the team’s website. “I think we might not see him until Monday, but he’s OK.”
McCarthy did not go into specifics about the nature of Iheanachor’s injury after the 2026 first-round pick had to exit practice earlier this week.
The Steelers first preseason game is set for next Thursday night against the Packers.
The week began with Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers causing a ruckus on ESPN, where he sharply criticized Dr. Anthony Fauci — and ESPN. The appearance prompted sharp criticism of Rodgers.
Rodgers has since insisted that he doesn’t care.
“I don’t give a [crap] about anything that people think about me unless they’re in my corner and I would ask them for advice,” Rodgers told Jarrett Bell of USA Today.
“I don’t care about the criticism from people like that,” Rodgers said. “Most people have made up their mind about me, so it doesn’t matter what I say. It’s not going to change their mind because most people aren’t listening to the content of your words. They’re wanting to attack your character because they think you’re MAGA or they think you’re whatever tag they put on you — conspiracy theorist, anti-science. They’ve already made up their mind about me before this.”
But the stuff Rodgers said on Monday reinforces, and confirms, those preconceived notions. If, after all, someone is regarded as MAGA or a conspiracy theorist or anti-science and that person then says things consistent with one or more of those labels, why would anyone feel any differently than they already do?
Besides, other things Rodgers told Bell contradict his “I don’t give a shit” vibe. Rodgers explained that he posted photos of his recent reconciliation with his estranged family not to celebrate the occasion but to counter lingering criticism of his perceived role in cutting them off.
“I feel like it was part of the full-circle nature of this last season for me,” Rodgers told Bell. “There’s been a narrative out there. There’s not been a lot of information that’s truthful about it. And I think that the personal life should stay personal and private. . . .
“But I feel like it was part of the full-circle to just one-time post something, and never again. So that that narrative can finally be put to rest.”
If Rodgers doesn’t care what people think of him “unless they’re in my corner and I would ask them for advice,” why violate his “personal and private” life to “shut down” a narrative that doesn’t trouble him? If he truly doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks, why would he give a shit about shutting down their narratives?
Rodgers is a complicated figure, to be sure. And there are plenty of inconsistencies in the things he says and does.
Since he doesn’t care if anyone outside his inner circle thinks that, he won’t care that someone is pointing it out.
Steelers first-round rookie Max Iheanachor left practice early Thursday with an apparent injury.
Alan Saunders of PghSteelersNow reports that Iheanachor walked to the sideline to have head athletic trainer Gabe Amponsah work on his neck and right shoulder area. Iheanachor then spoke with team physician Dr. Aaron Mares before walking toward the training room.
Iheanachor, the 21st overall pick, has worked with the second team at right tackle. Broderick Jones moved to Iheanachor’s spot for the rest of practice, with Jack Driscoll taking second-team reps at left tackle in Jones’ stead.
Iheanachor did not allow a sack in his senior season at Arizona State. He appeared in 32 career games, starting 31 for the Sun Devils.
He was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2025.
Beyond Aaron Rodgers as the obvious starting quarterback for the Steelers, the rest of the depth chart has questions.
There’s no question, apparently, in the mind of coach Mike McCarthy that veteran Mason Rudolph can be trusted with the No. 2 job.
“Mason Rudolph, I can’t tell you how pleased I am with him,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday, via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He throws the ball better than I thought. . . . He’s been impressive.”
A third-round pick of the Steelers in 2018, Rudolph has 34 career regular-season appearances and 19 starts.
The bigger question for the Steelers is the number of quarterbacks they’ll keep on the 53-man roster. Unless they’re going to carry four (which is not unprecedented but unusual), one of the three behind Rodgers will be released — Rudolph, Will Howard, or Drew Allar.
Howard and Allar would have to pass through waivers before being signed to the practice squad. They could get creative and cut Rudolph, with a wink-nod that they’ll sign him to the practice squad and routinely elevate him for games.
Or, as some cynics are suggesting, McCarthy is trying to create a trade market for Rudolph.
Regardless, Rudolph has plenty of experience in NFL games. Howard and Allar have none. They’ll need someone who can play, in the event Rodgers can’t go. Rudolph is the only option who brings that to the table.
The Steelers have brought in a defender that Mike McCarthy knows well.
Pittsburgh announced on Thursday that the club has signed defensive back Israel Mukuamu to a one-year deal.
Mukuamu, 26, was a Cowboys sixth-round pick in 2021 when McCarthy was Dallas’ head coach. He appeared in 50 games with three starts for the Cowboys over his first four seasons, mainly playing special teams.
He was with the Panthers in 2025, appearing in one contest for the club.
As a corresponding move, the Steelers released cornerback Ahmari Harvey.
The Steelers have released their first depth chart of the season and it does not include running back Rico Dowdle among the starters.
Some might have expected the Steelers to go with a dual listing of Jaylen Warren and Dowdle at the top of their backfield, but the Steelers have opted to go with Warren as the No. 1 and Dowdle as the No. 2. Dowdle signed a two-year contract with the team as a free agent this offseason while Warren is in his fifth year with the team.
The listing could remain the same into the regular season, but the Steelers are planning on roles for both backs and that could make their standing on the depth chart a moot point come the fall.
Another spot that has been closely watched this offseason is backup quarterback and the Steelers list Mason Rudolph ahead of Will Howard for the spot behind Aaron Rodgers. Third-round pick Drew Allar is listed at the fourth spot and his draft position makes him likely to make the team, so the Steelers could be parting ways with whoever loses out for the No. 2s spot on the depth chart.
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently disclosed to Mike Silver of The Athletic that Rodgers was ill before the January playoff loss to the Texans. The illness was not disclosed by the Steelers.
In response to an inquiry from PFT on the situation, the NFL declined comment.
In 2023, the NFL fined the Falcons $75,000 and then-coach Arthur Smith $25,000 for failing to disclose that running back Bijan Robinson had an illness on the morning of a game against the Buccaneers.
The fact that the NFL has declined comment doesn’t mean the league will ignore it. How can they? In this age of legalized and normalized betting, the failure of the Steelers to update their injury report to reveal that Rodgers had an illness is a problem on its face.
The league has no choice but to investigate. If the reporting is true (and it is, we’ve confirmed), the league will have no choice but to act. Any other approach amounts to the league looking the other way on the Steelers concealing an important piece of inside information.
Given the various ways in which inside information has allegedly or actually been misused in multiple sports (the NFL recently suspended a Cardinals executive for allegedly sharing information about the team’s draft picks), inaction is not acceptable. If the league is going to profit from gambling, either directly through sponsorships or indirectly by owners owning up to five percent of companies that operate sportsbooks, the NFL cannot ignore clear instances of teams having inside information about a player’s health and failing to reveal it.
On Monday, Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers relentlessly attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci. The Rodgers assault, launched on ESPN, included calling Fauci an “absolute criminal” and repeatedly labeled Fauci an “absolute coward.”
At one point, Rodgers promoted a false conspiracy theory that Fauci’s wife’s sister is Ghislaine Maxwell.
On Tuesday, Fauci’s lawyer responded to Rodgers.
Via Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, David Schertler said this via email: “Aaron Rodgers doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He should stick to football.”
The other target of Rodgers’s ire — ESPN — has repeatedly declined comment on Rodgers’s comments.
And so, as to Fauci, the ball returns to Rodgers’s court. It remains to be seen whether he continues the dialogue at a league-required press conference, or during a resumption of his habit of appearing on McAfee’s show on a regular basis.
Last year, Rodgers stopped his Tuesday visits. This year, it’s possible that he’s just getting warmed up.
