NFL rumors: Mike Tomlin's future officially up in the air with Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin may be the next Super Bowl-winning head coach to step away from football.

In a week that saw legendary head coaches like Bill Belichick, Pete Carroll and Nick Saban end dynastic tenures with their respective teams, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio indicated that Tomlin's future may be up in the air as well.

"This year is a unique position for Mike Tomlin," Florio said during NBC's halftime show of the Cleveland Browns and Houston Texans Wild Card Game. "For the first time ever, he's entering the last year of his contract ... I'm told he's going to step back after this season ends [and] make a decision about his future with his family. He loves the team, loves the young players there, but after the season, he'll huddle with. his family and make a decision about the Steelers."

This is quite a change in tone from Florio, who expressed doubt that Tomlin would walk away just a few days ago.

This isn't Tomlin's first time heading into the final year of his contract, as AP's Will Graves pointed out. Tomlin was on the final year of his deal when he signed his three-year contract extension during the 2021 NFL offseason.

Mike Tomlin's future with the Pittsburgh Steelers in question

Florio isn't the first one to allude to Tomlin parting ways with Pittsburgh after the end of their season. ESPN's Adam Schefter said that sources around the league have openly suggested that Tomlin could take time off from coaching.

"Mike Tomlin gets to dictate what happens here, not the Pittsburgh Steelers," Shefter said. "They're not firing him, he's staying on, but he's staying on if he wants to. If he decides that he'd like to walk, well, that's a different subject. And maybe there's a team out there –– he's from Washington, his wife loves Los Angeles –– maybe one of them wants to lob a call into the Steelers to see if they could wind up doing something with him."

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer also alluded that returning to the Steelers would be Tomlin's decision to make.

"Mike Tomlin, it'll be his choice if he goes back to the Steelers or not," Glazer said. "But it'll be his choice."

Few coaches have enjoyed as much success as Tomlin has. Tomlin replaced legendary head coach Bill Cowher as Pittsburgh's head coach in 2007. Since then, he has led the Steelers to two AFC Championship Game victories and a Super Bowl championship, while also displaying unparalleled consistency. In his 17 seasons as head coach, Tomlin has a 173-100 record (.631) and has never had a losing season.

The Steelers are set to play a Wild Card game against the Bills on Monday. The game, originally scheduled for Sunday, was rescheduled due to severe weather in Western New York.