Could Steelers Trade Mike Tomlin? Insider Says Deal ‘Not Likely’

The Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t planning on moving on from their longtime head coach — nor are they looking to move him, according to reports.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio explained that Steelers’ reported wording of “not planning” to move on from head coach Mike Tomlin opens the door for certain teams to reach out at least.

“If the report were that the Steelers definitely will not make a coaching change, it would look and feel different,” Florio wrote. “The words ‘not planning’ could be a subtle invitation to the Jets, Bears, Saints, Jaguars, Raiders, and possibly the Cowboys, whose contract with Mike McCarthy expires in two days.”

With that being said, Florio specified the difficulties of trading a head coach in the NFL, explaining all the levels that need to happen to make a deal.

“The problem with that approach is that coaches can’t be traded like players,” Floria wrote. “The procedure goes like this. A team interested in hiring another team’s coach calls that team and engages in negotiations on compensation, if the team employing the coach has interest in a deal. After an agreement on terms is reached, the new team has permission to negotiate with the coach in an effort to reach a deal. If no deal is reached, there is no trade.”

Florio also made the point that there’s no reason to believe that Tomlin may want to be moved, either. So that makes any move regarding the longtime Steelers coach all the more unlikely.

Tomlin has lost six straight playoff games as the head coach of the Steelers but has never finished under .500 in his time as the team’s head coach.

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