The NFL has called Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to discuss his issue with…

2024 NFL coaching rumors: Steelers’ Mike Tomlin may contemplate stepping down after playoffs.

• Mike Tomlin is preparing to make his 11th postseason appearance as Steelers head coach, coming off a record 17th consecutive season without a loss. However, some in the NFL feel this could be his final season in Pittsburgh, according to ESPN.

The Steelers are not firing Mike Tomlin, Adam Schefter stated this week, “but… there are some individuals around the league who believe Mike Tomlin may elect to take some time off. Consider taking a year off, as Sean Payton did.

Payton stepped down as the Saints’ head coach in 2022, following 15 seasons on the job. He spent a year as a Fox Sports pundit before returning as the Broncos’ coach, technically through a trade, for the 2023 season.

NBC Sports reported earlier this year that Pittsburgh has “no reason” to believe Tomlin wants to leave, and in fact would like to extend his contract, which currently runs through 2024. But Schefter has since doubled down on his suggestion that a departure is in the cards, telling “The Pat McAfee Show” this week that certain NFL sources believe Tomlin “could walk” after the season.

Regardless, Tomlin will dictate what happens, Schefter explained, not the Pittsburgh Steelers: “He’s staying on if he wants to.”

The 51-year-old coach has enjoyed job security as the NFL’s second-longest-tenured head coach, trailing only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick, who is generally expected to consider relocating in 2024. Tomlin is 173-100-2 in his nearly two decades in Pittsburgh, having led the Steelers to two Super Bowls and won one. He has under more local scrutiny in recent years, as his last postseason triumph came in 2016, when the squad advanced to the AFC Championship.

Tomlin’s Steelers will face the Bills on Sunday as part of Super Wild Card Weekend after finishing 10-7.

If he were to exit following the season, a number of teams with head coaching vacancies, including the Commanders, would likely be interested in his services, even if it meant negotiating a trade with the Steelers.