The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in a difficult spot with no real future outlook at quarterback, outside of eyes on the 2026 NFL Draft, an aging core of players — particularly on defense — who can’t seem to get over the hump in the playoffs, and a long-tenured head coach in Mike Tomlin who is quickly closing in on 20 years with the team.
Something has to change because things feel rather stale and frustrating in Pittsburgh.
Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark has made the case several times this offseason for Tomlin to leave on his own accord and go have his Andy Reid run elsewhere late in his career. But for ESPN’s Damien Woody, he thinks the Steelers should trade Tomlin.
Appearing on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike Thursday morning, Woody made the case for trading Tomlin and resetting the Steelers from the top down.
“You know what? Coming into the offseason I said that the Pittsburgh Steelers should seriously entertain trading Mike Tomlin. I really felt like the Pittsburgh Steelers should have traded Mike Tomlin for a couple reasons. Number one, Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since what, 2016?” Woody said, according to audio via ESPN Radio. “It’s been almost a decade since the Pittsburgh Steelers, the six-time Super Bowl champions, have won a playoff game. Three presidential inaugurations. That’s been a long time.
“We all know and recognize the greatness of Mike Tomlin. We know he’s never had a losing season, but we’ve seen this over and over and over again. And even Mike Tomlin himself has always said the standard is the standard. Well, what’s the standard in Pittsburgh, the standard as an organization? It’s always about championships.”
The standard in Pittsburgh is always about championships. That’s what the greatness and the stability of the franchise was built on from the 1970s dynasty to present day. But the Steelers haven’t come anywhere close to competing for a championship in the last decade or so, and they have struggled to figure out their quarterback situation since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season.
They’re in a transition period, from the front office to the coaching staff to the roster. Some of the big names have remained, but there’s been quite a bit of change. Within that change, they’ve thrown a lot at the wall at the quarterback position, but nothing has stuck.
That’s why they’re in the position they’re in. They find themselves waiting for Aaron Rodgers though they are no closer to a decision from the 41-year-old quarterback than they were earlier in the offseason after missing out on Justin Fields and Sam Darnold in free agency and being unable to trade for Matthew Stafford.
So, for Woody the easiest thing for the Steelers to do to find that franchise quarterback and get back to competing for Super Bowls is to trade Tomlin.
“Most importantly, if you’re the Pittsburgh Steelers’ organization, how can we get navigate ourselves to get a franchise quarterback? ‘Cause you can’t, ultimately in this league, you can’t win a championship without a franchise quarterback. You gotta find a way to go get that guy. Well, what’s the one piece that you could possibly flip to get that?” Woody added regarding trading Tomlin. “And I know, listen, giving up, trading a coach, that’s a gamble. But if I can go out here and get the quarterback, everything else solves itself.
“And so if I’m the Pittsburgh Steelers, that’s what I would’ve done. I would’ve traded Mike Tomlin. If I’m Mike Tomlin, honestly, why wouldn’t I entertain that? You’re not going anywhere without a quarterback.”
The Steelers might not be going anywhere without a franchise quarterback. That’s a fair argument. But they’ve found ways to win under Tomlin even without the quarterback, muddying games up, winning ugly and remaining a competitive team year after year.
There’s no guarantee that trading Tomlin finds the franchise quarterback for the Steelers, and there’s no guarantee that things would get better without Tomlin, either. But for many, the status quo of the organization has been maddening, and something needs to change.
Woody presents a solution. It’s a little late to do that now, but there was some Tomlin trade buzz early in the offseason with one team reportedly reaching out to the Steelers to inquire about Tomlin’s availability. But the conversation never got to Tomlin, who doesn’t want to go anywhere and has a no-trade clause in his contract.
