Mike Tomlin (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
A fascinating trade proposal has the Pittsburgh Steelers shaking up the NFL landscape by trading beloved head coach Mike Tomlin to a longtime AFC rival.

Mike Tomlin was in the conversation for NFL Coach of the Year before his Steelers closed out the regular season on a four-game losing streak. If Pittsburgh loses to the Baltimore Ravens on Super Wild Card Weekend, the calls for Tomlin to get fired will only continue to escalate.

Tomlin is a lock to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day, but his lack of recent postseason success is a cause for concern. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016, and they last played in the Super Bowl 15 years ago.

Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh proposed a fascinating trade idea that has the Steelers trading Mike Tomlin to the New England Patriots in exchange for the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

The Patriots surprised many by firing head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday after just one season on the job. Mike Vrabel has been widely mentioned as a front-runner to replace Mayo there, but Tomlin would be a fascinating option if the Steelers decided to move on.

Trading for big-named head coaches isn’t cheap, though. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers acquired Jon Gruden from the Oakland Raiders in 2002 for a mammoth package headlined by two first-round picks, and the Denver Broncos had to surrender 2023 first and 2024 second-rounders to the New Orleans Saints to land Sean Payton.

Mike Tomlin Would Have Plenty Of Suitors If Steelers Moved On

This is a big “if”, of course. But there would be a significant market for the 52-year-old Mike Tomlin if the Steelers decided to trade him, as future Hall of Fame head coaches rarely become available.

Of course, all Tomlin trade speculation ends if the Steelers end up defeating the Ravens on Super Wild Card Weekend.