PALM BEACH, Fla. – As usual, Mike Tomlin made the pack of media wait in anticipation a few minutes more for his arrival at the AFC coaches breakfast on Monday morning.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers coach showed up at 7:51 for a session scheduled to start at 7:45, he wondered about the over/under as he settled into his seat at the table.
Yes, there was some sort of a line. Now Tomlin is a lot better than Bill Belichick, who was prone to show up (proudly) a half-hour late for such media sessions. Nonetheless, Gerry Dulac, the veteran Steelers beat writer, predicted the coach wouldn’t appear before 8:02.
“Just the game we play,” Tomlin said of the banter with the press.
Waiting. How fitting. Tomlin’s table was packed because of the suspense surrounding Aaron Rodgers, who is making the Steelers wait out the big decision on his football future.
Rodgers, 41, visited Tomlin and other key Steelers figures at the team’s headquarters on March 21 but hasn’t revealed anything publicly about his plans.
Is he coming to Pittsburgh? Pushing to join some other team, like the Minnesota Vikings? Contemplating retirement?
“I’m certainly not going to put words in his mouth or speak for him,” Tomlin said.
Typically, Tomlin was rather cool when peppered about the situation. He downplayed the extent to which he is unsettled by all of this.
“I’m really comfortable with being unsettled this time of year, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “It’s about talent acquisition.”
Sure, the start of the offseason program is still weeks away. And Rodgers, a football savant, is capable of coming aboard and quickly grasping – and influencing – whatever system that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith devises.
Yet most teams already have their quarterbacks in place. And given Pittsburgh’s struggles since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season to land a franchise quarterback of the future, this is urgent. Still.
Then again, last year at this time the Steelers had their quarterbacks signed and delivered and … we saw how that worked out.
Of course, Rodgers would just be a short-term fix that might allow Pittsburgh to finally get past the first round of the playoffs again. Since their face-to-face meeting, the coach and quarterback have had follow-up exchanges.
Any idea on when Rodgers will have his big reveal?
“We’ve had some discussions,” Tomlin said, “but I’ll leave it between he and I.”
Maybe Tomlin has a gut feeling that he’ll eventually get his man.
After all, the NFL Network reported Monday that Rodgers had a throwing session at UCLA over the weekend with DK Metcalf, the star receiver the Steelers obtained from the Seattle Seahawks and signed to a four-year, $132 million extension. Steelers GM Omar Khan wouldn’t confirm the workout to reporters on Monday, but it was seemingly another sign that points to the possibility that Pittsburgh will wind up with Rodgers in the fold.
Regardless, this might remind Tomlin of his pre-NFL days recruiting top prospects on the college level. Someone asked about his preferred mode of communication. Text message, phone call or FaceTime?
“All of the ...
