Bryant McFadden: Mike Tomlin Extension Allows Steelers To ‘Be Dialed Into This Season’

The Pittsburgh Steelers took care of an important piece of business today, extending head coach Mike Tomlin’s contract through the 2027 season. Last season questions lingered about Tomlin’s future with the Steelers and Tomlin’s future in football, but with today’s extension, those are put to bed and the Steelers can focus on the on-field product. Former Steelers cornerback and CBS Sports analyst Bryant McFadden said on CBS Sports HQ that Tomlin’s extension now allows the Steelers to “dial in” for 2024.

“I love the fact that the organization decided to go ahead and invest in Mike Tomlin for three more years. Now you can take out the questions on what happens next for Mike Tomlin if he was to go into this season without a new deal,” McFadden said. “So you don’t have to worry about those distractions with the head coach, you don’t have to worry about answering questions, will he remain the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers after 2024, what would his future look like, what would the organization’s future look like as well. They can just dial in and just be dialed into this season. So this is a great starting point for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their head coach.”

McFadden added that the Steelers’ aspiration this year has to be to compete for championships.

“Steeler fans know the playoffs is when the season actually begins. When you look at the glory years when the Steelers were able to compete for championships,” he said. “And that has to be the aspirations for this 2024 Steelers team.”

There wasn’t much of a doubt that Tomlin would get an extension, and he reaffirmed his love for coaching in an interview with Rob King and Steelers.com earlier this offseason. But now that pen has been put to paper, there should be zero topics on Get Up or The Herd or whatever daily hot take show you want to plug talking about Tomlin’s future with the Steelers. He’s here to stay, and the team can focus on football and winning.

There hasn’t been enough winning in Pittsburgh lately, with no playoff wins since 2016, so eliminating whatever potential distractions could come with Tomlin not having his extension done is obviously a positive. There’s been a lot of change in Pittsburgh this offseason, with Arthur Smith coming in as offensive coordinator and Russell Wilson and Justin Fields joining the quarterback room, and Tomlin’s extension eliminates any worry that he’ll leave town.

McFadden is right that the Steelers have to look to compete and have Super Bowl aspirations. It’s been too long since this team has had playoff success, and while the Steelers aren’t quite a Super Bowl-caliber team yet, they’re a lot better than they have been in recent seasons. Now they need to show it with actual results in the postseason.

While Tomlin has been divisive among Steelers fans recently, largely due to his lack of recent playoff success, players love him as evidenced by reaction to his signing a new contract. Keeping him with the Steelers should certainly boost some morale in the Pittsburgh locker room. Players will be happy and it helps eliminate any sort of outside noise or distractions about Tomlin’s future. With minicamp set to begin tomorrow, the focus within the team will be on football, as it always should be.