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Steelers’ Art Rooney II Addresses Situation Post-Tomlin

By | at January 14, 2026 9:56 pm

In the aftermath of head coach Mike Tomlin‘s departure from Pittsburgh, Steelers owner/president Art Rooney II made some things clear from the team’s perspective. One such item made clear, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was that Tomlin was not in danger of losing his job before he stepped down. Rooney expressed that he was willing “to take another run at it” with Tomlin next season, which he had expected to discuss with the long-time head coach before his resignation.

Despite his desire to run it back with Tomlin in 2026, Rooney asserted that he made no attempts to talk Tomlin out of his decision. “I did not,” Rooney said in response to the question, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. “He was pretty clear about what his intentions were…We had a great conversation, and I understand where he was.”

Mike DeFabo of The Athletic added on that part of the reason Rooney declined to push back on Tomlin’s decision was because it was, as the owner framed it to the media, a “family-driven” exit. Tomlin’s decision not to coach in the near future had already been reported, but DeFabo’s wording stated that “Tomlin does not plan on coaching again anytime soon.”

Moving forward, Rooney and general manager Omar Khan will reportedly be leading the search for Tomlin’s replacement, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. The pair ruled out a number of candidates fairly quickly as Rooney told the media that he didn’t “expect anyone on the current staff” to be a candidate to step into the open head coaching role, per DeFabo. Realistically, this would only apply to offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and we can probably just narrow it down to Smith since he’s been rumored as a candidate in New York, requested to interview with the Cardinals, and interviewed with the Titans.

Another aspect of the future affected by Tomlin’s exit, in the eyes of Rooney, is the team’s quarterback position. After Aaron Rodgers led the team to the playoffs in his first year with the team, there was some speculation that the 42-year-old passer would be running it back as Pittsburgh’s quarterback for the 2026 season. The other option the veteran is reportedly considering is one in which he hangs up his cleats for good. As Rooney puts it (via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated), “Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it’ll most likely affect his decision.”

Even if his starting quarterback departs along with his head coach, though, it doesn’t appear as if Rooney is expecting to blow things up further. He’s looking to carry on Tomlin’s moniker of “the standard is the standard” and expecting the next head coach and quarterback to pick up where Tomlin and Rodgers left off. When asked if the team could enter a “rebuild” phase, he pushed back on that notion, saying he didn’t “like that word” and that he couldn’t understand why anyone would “waste a year of your life not trying to contend,” per Pryor.

Instead, Rooney and Khan will hit the ground running to try and find Tomlin’s replacement while righting the ship in a direction that hopefully leads to the franchise’s first playoff win in 10 years.

2 comments Pittsburgh Steelers

Cards Request Arthur Smith HC Meeting

By | at January 14, 2026 10:31 am

Not closely connected to John Harbaugh, the Cardinals’ HC search has been a background item as the sweepstakes for the ex-Ravens leader heat up. But Arizona is moving along with non-Harbaugh candidates.

One of them is Arthur Smith. The Steelers’ two-year OC received an interview request from the Cardinals on Wednesday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This is Smith’s second request; he met with the Titans, one of his former NFL employers, are meeting with him today.

The Steelers’ season is now over, clearing Smith’s schedule regarding coaching interest. Smith, 43, was a coveted candidate once upon a time; his star has dimmed a bit after three straight 7-10 seasons as the Falcons’ HC. Smith did receive interviews for the Bears and Jets’ positions last year.

While not the HC prospect he once was, Smith did coax a solid season from Aaron Rodgers after helping a Russell Wilson-guided team to the playoffs last season. After a 28th-place offensive ranking in 2023, the Steelers rebounded under Smith by finishing 16th in scoring last season. They moved to 15th in 2025. Rodgers finished with 3,322 yards in 16 starts, throwing 24 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. The all-time great averaged only 6.7 yards per attempt, but Pittsburgh’s offense lacked much firepower beyond D.K. Metcalf.

Smith leaned into the run with Atlanta, almost by choice due to the team’s QB situation. After the Falcons traded Matt Ryan to the Colts in 2022, Smith oversaw offenses piloted by Marcus Mariota and then Desmond Ridder. The Falcons stood down on QB investments in 2023, giving the job to Ridder. That turned out to be a mistake, one that played the lead role in Smith being fired. But the former Titans OC is back in the mix for a top job. With nine vacancies now — including the Steelers’, with Smith boss Mike Tomlin stepping down after 19 years — Smith is a name to follow once again.

Via PFR’s HC Search Tracker, here is how the Cardinals’ process looks as of Wednesday morning:

9 comments Arizona Cardinals

Titans Request HC Interviews With Arthur Smith, Jeff Hafley, Robert Saleh

By | at January 8, 2026 1:22 pm

The Titan have submitted requests to interview Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and 49ers DC Robert Saleh, per Titans inside Paul Kuharsky.

Smith, 43, spent most of his coaching career in Tennessee. He started as a quality control assistant in 2011 with a season on both sides of the ball before spending six years working with the Titans’ tight ends. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019 and took a bottom 10 offense to top-12 ranks in points and yards in his debut season. Smith then led a top-five unit in 2020, which got him hired as the Falcons’ head coach the following offseason. He went 7-10 in three straight season in Atlanta and was fired in 2024. Mike Tomlin picked him up as the Steelers’ OC, but Smith has not found the same success as his time in Tennesee. Pittsburgh’s offense has ranked among the NFL’s bottom 10 teams in points and finished in the middle of the pack in terms of yardage.

Hiring Smith does not have obvious appeal outside of a reunion with a former coach. He does not have a strong history of working with young quarterbacks, a key part of the Titans’ current search, and his success has primarily come in the run game. Cam Ward has good movement skills, but he was not a dual-threat quarterback at Miami and will not be one in the NFL. His connections with Tomlin and Mike Vrabel could help him land a solid defensive coordinator.

Hafley, 46, has quickly risen up the list of hot coaching candidates after two successful years in Green Bay. His coaching career began in college in 2021 with stints at a variety of schools before moving to the NFL in 2012. He coached defensive backs in Tampa Bay (2012-2013), Cleveland (2014-2015), and San Francisco (2016-2018) before accepting a co-DC gig at Ohio State. Boston College hired Hafely as their next head coach in 2020; four years later, he took his current position with the Packers. In his debut year in Green Bay, Hafley led the team to a top-six finish in points and yards before taking a step back to a top-12 ranking this season.

Hiring a defensive-minded head coach to lock down one side of the ball while searching for a young OC to work with Ward seems like a viable strategy for the Titans, especially given this year’s hiring cycle. There are far more potential head coaches on the defensive side of the ball with a number of young offensive assistants who may be ready for an OC job.

Saleh is of course among the top options with a defensive background. He, like Smith, also has experience as a head coach at the NFL level. The 46-year-old returned to San Francisco for 2025, the first season after his Jets firing. Saleh’s unit dealt with a slew of notable injuries but still managed to finish 13th in points allowed. It thus comes as little surprise he is among the most in-demand staffers so far in the 2026 hiring cycle.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

11 comments Green Bay Packers Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Tennessee Titans

2026 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 7, 2026 9:50 pm

The Browns, Cardinals, Falcons and Raiders followed the Giants and Titans in firing head coaches, making those calls between the Week 18 conclusion and Black Monday. The Ravens then moved on from John Harbaugh after 18 seasons; two days later, the Dolphins canned Mike McDaniel. Now, following a wild-card loss, the Steelers and Mike Tomlin are separating. Here are the candidates connected to all nine of the HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-15-26 (1:11am CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

10 comments Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New York Giants PFR Originals Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tennessee Titans

Latest On Giants’ HC Search, DC Shane Bowen

By | at November 17, 2025 9:25 am

NOVEMBER 17: The Giants aren’t making any changes to their coaching staff this week, Kafka told reporters (via Jordan Raanan of ESPN). Bowen will remain the team’s defensive coordinator. “Status quo,” Kafka said of his staff.

NOVEMBER 16: Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been on the hot seat for some time, and Sunday’s loss to the Packers may have been the final straw. Connor Hughes of SNY.tv says the “odds are” that Bowen will be fired in short order.

Bowen worked under Mike Vrabel as the Titans’ defensive coordinator from 2021-23. When Tennessee cleaned house at the end of the 2023 slate, Bowen joined the Giants’ staff, though his first year on the job did not go especially well; Big Blue finished in the bottom-10 in terms of total defense and just outside the bottom-10 in terms of points allowed in 2024.

Nonetheless, the Giants retained head coach Brian Daboll and his top lieutenants, Bowen and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, this offseason. Of course, Daboll was fired just last week, and Kafka was elevated to interim HC. 

According to Hughes, the only reason Bowen was not axed at the same time as Daboll is because the team did not want to put Kafka at a disadvantage. Instead, the Giants wanted him to spend a full week at the controls, attend defensive meetings – which is something he naturally had not done in his capacity as OC – and draw his own conclusions about the current staff.

After Sunday’s defeat, which marked the fourth time this season the 2-9 Giants have squandered a lead in the fourth quarter, Kafka certainly did not give Bowen a vote of confidence. 

“We’ll evaluate everything,” Kafka succinctly stated (via Hughes).

In addition to the fourth quarter collapses, New York has allowed the fourth-most yards per game (383.0), and the club is 28th in points allowed (27.3 points per game). As such, a Bowen ouster would not be surprising.

Kafka has been linked to outside head coaching interest in the past, so while the Giants will not be vying for a playoff spot this year, their performance will impact Kafka’s own coaching future. In addition to their interim bench boss, of course, the Giants will also consider a number of other options for the full-time HC gig this offseason.

According to Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer (video link), that search – which will be spearheaded by GM Joe Schoen – will not be overly expansive. Schoen will have to determine if he prefers a candidate who will be directly responsible for quarterback Jaxson Dart’s development or if he thinks the so-called “leader of men” profile (e.g. Mike Tomlin, Dan Campbell) is more important. Either way, Glazer does not think a college coach will be under consideration.

If true, that would eliminate Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman from the Giants’ list, which contradicts a recent report naming Freeman as a viable target. Some of the names that Glazer thinks will make the cut (Mike McCarthy, Lou Anarumo, Steve Spagnuolo) have already been linked to the post, while three others (Matt Nagy, Arthur Smith, Chris Shula) had not been publicly connected to New York.

Glazer spent extra time considering Shula’s candidacy. The Rams’ defensive coordinator could be yet another member of the Sean McVay coaching tree to receive HC consideration elsewhere, and according to Glazer, McVay has worked more closely with Shula than any of his former proteges. 

Shula, 39, was recently named as a “prime candidate” to land a head coaching job in the 2026 cycle.

20 comments New York Giants

Titans’ HC Search Underway; Team To Prioritize Previous HC Experience?

By | at October 19, 2025 9:13 am

Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker might have final say over roster decisions, but both he and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi will run the search for the club’s next head coach in the wake of Brian Callahan’s dismissal. As Albert Breer of SI.com reports, the duo is not waiting to begin the process and is already researching potential candidates.

Breer adds that Tennessee is not hiring a search firm to aid in the hunt. He also says Brinker and Borgonzi intend to be open-minded and will not focus on a particular “type” of coach.

It is unclear whether he simply means the Titans will consider offense- and defense-oriented coaches, or if the club’s open-mindedness will extend to candidates without previous HC experience. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the lack of success with Callahan – who had not risen above the coordinator ranks when he was hired in 2024 – makes it likely Tennessee opts for a candidate with a head coaching gig on their resume (along with “strong leadership qualities”).

Several of the names that already have been floated as potential targets, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, do have recent experience in an HC post. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, who first reported Nagy’s and Smith’s candidacy, subsequently added Mike McCarthy and Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to the list, and those coaches have also served as bench bosses in the past (McCarthy with the Packers and Cowboys, Joseph with Denver).

However, both Rapoport and Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) name Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo as a candidate to watch, with Russini also identifying Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver as someone who could interest Tennessee brass. Both men have interviewed for HC positions in recent history, with Anarumo earning a second interview for the Cardinals’ top job in 2023 and Weaver advancing to the second interview stage with the Saints, Falcons, and Commanders over the last two years.

Although neither Anarumo nor Weaver have landed a head coaching job yet, they could be popular interviewees in the upcoming cycle. Whether the Titans are the club to give them their first HC opportunity in light of the disastrous Callahan tenure remains to be seen, but even though Schefter says the club prefers an experienced hand, the ESPN scribe acknowledges Brinker and Borgonzi will cast a wide net in their evaluation process.

As Schefter also points out, Brinker was part of the Packers’ last HC search, which culminated in the Matt LaFleur hire. Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler, who worked as a personnel advisor with the Saints last year, was part of New Orleans’ hunt for a new head coach after Dennis Allen was fired during the 2024 campaign. The Saints hired Kellen Moore shortly after Ziegler accepted his current job with the Titans.

19 comments Tennessee Titans

Titans HC Rumors: Nagy, Smith, Brady

By | at October 14, 2025 10:01 pm

After firing head coach Brian Callahan on Monday, the 1-5 Titans will move forward with Mike McCoy handling the role on an interim basis. It’s improbable that McCoy will fare well enough to take over on a full-time basis, meaning the Titans’ head coach for 2026 is likely to come from outside the organization. With that in mind, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Steelers OC Arthur Smith are early names to watch, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports.

While the Titans hired a first-time head coach in Callahan, they’d be getting an experienced option in Nagy, who was at the helm of the Bears from 2018-21. Chicago went 12-4 and earned a playoff berth in Nagy’s first year on the job, though that proved to be the high point. The Bears also made the playoffs in 2020 despite an 8-8 finish, their second straight .500 effort, but a 6-11 showing in 2021 led to Nagy’s ouster. He put together a 34-31 record and an 0-2 mark in the postseason during his time with the franchise.

[RELATED: Titans Separate From Bill Callahan, Keep Bo Hardegree As Play-Caller]

After his run with the Bears ended, Nagy went back to Kansas City for his second Chiefs tenure. He has worked in multiple offensive positions since rejoining the team in 2022, including as their O-coordinator since 2023.

The Chiefs have gone to three straight Super Bowls and won two with Nagy back on their staff. However, head coach Andy Reid – not Nagy – calls the plays. Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that the 47-year-old Nagy has a connection to Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi, who worked in various roles with the Chiefs from 2009-24.

The Titans and their fans are familiar with Smith, a Tennessee native who held multiple coaching roles with the team from 2011-20. Smith parlayed a successful two-year run as the Titans’ offensive coordinator into his first head coaching job with the Falcons. It proved to be a short-lived stint, however, with the Falcons moving on after Smith guided three straight 7-10 seasons.

In his first year with the Steelers in 2024, Smith oversaw an offense that ranked 16th in points and 21st in yards while struggling to find an answer at quarterback between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. This year’s Steelers have gotten better play under center from Aaron Rodgers and rank 14th in the league in points per game, but they’re just 29th in yards per contest.

While Nagy and Smith may be prominent in the Titans’ coaching search, the team is unlikely to hire Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports. Brady, 36, has called the plays for Buffalo’s prolific offense since taking over for Ken Dorsey in 2023. However, after the Callahan experiment failed, there’s doubt that the Titans will hire a 30-something with no experience as a head coach for the second time in a row.

32 comments Buffalo Bills Kansas City Chiefs Pittsburgh Steelers Tennessee Titans

Latest On Recent Dolphins Trades

By | at July 8, 2025 6:43 pm

JULY 8: A few additional compensation details trickled in today on Ramsey’s situation in Pittsburgh. Per ESPN’s Field Yates, in addition to the $3MM the Dolphins advanced to Ramsey in order to help facilitate the trade to the Steelers, Pittsburgh, too, provided their new All-Pro with some early funding. Similar to Miami, the Steelers took $1.5MM from Ramsey’s 2026 base salary to increase his base salary this year.

Yates adds that Ramsey’s original deal had language that gave him active game roster bonuses of $45K per game in the final three years of his contract (2026-28). Pittsburgh changed that language, converting the potential bonuses into base salary, meaning he won’t miss out on the bonus if he’s inactive for any games. In all, the conversion adds $765K to each year’s base salary.

JULY 4: NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero made an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show yesterday, in which he gave some keen insight on two recent trades made by the Dolphins with the Steelers and Giants.

Pelissero started by underlining the influence Jalen Ramsey had held in Miami, noting his impact on former defensive coordinator Vic Fangio‘s dismissal from the team. We had noted, shortly after Fangio’s departure was finalized, that Ramsey and a few other defensive backs had expressed issues with the defensive play-caller, and Pelissero confirmed as much, pointing out that the two never clicked due to Fangio’s inflexibility in putting Ramsey in the best position to succeed.

He goes on to say that, while discussions with the Steelers had been ongoing, there was always doubt about whether or not Ramsey would accept Pittsburgh as a trade destination. From the Jaguars to the Rams to the Dolphins, Ramsey has never played for a cold-weather team, and the prevailing assumption was that a return to Los Angeles was most likely. Ultimately, the Rams seemingly lacked the cash and cap space to take on Ramsey’s contract, and while the Chargers exchanged several calls with Miami, they never found a deal that interested them.

Mostly, the Dolphins were focused on player-for-player trades. Knowing how big of a deterrent Ramsey’s contract was for potential trade partners, the team knew that it would have to take on a big salary in return. With that in mind, they turned back to Pittsburgh to reunite with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. They’ll now take on the two remaining years on Fitzpatrick’s contract, which doesn’t contain any guarantees. In fact, if his doesn’t work out on the team in 2025, they can cut him with only $6.86MM in dead money in order to obtain $17.6MM in cap savings.

In order to sweeten the pot and bring the Steelers back to the table, they included Jonnu Smith. Smith is an apparent favorite tight end of Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The two were in Atlanta together in 2023 and will reunite after a career year for the tight end. Smith’s recent production and Fitpatrick’s declining production made taking on Ramsey’s contract a bit more palatable for Pittsburgh. As a result, Pittsburgh extended Smith for another year elevating his annual average salary from $4.2MM on the original two-year deal to $6.8MM per year over three seasons with the extension.

Ramsey also received some money from the trade, Pelissero explains. While, technically, he isn’t receiving any additional funds from the Steelers or Dolphins, he was owed $1.5MM of his salary from Miami this year and $1.5MM of his salary in 2026, as well. With the trade taking place, the Dolphins essentially advanced the $3MM to Ramsey upfront, while the Steelers take on the remainder of Ramsey’s contract.

Pelissero also spoke on the team’s acquisition of formerly retired tight end Darren Waller, a trade, he says, that materialized relatively quickly. Waller and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, reportedly reached out to the Giants last week, telling them that Waller was either going to go play for the Dolphins or stay retired. To his credit, general manager Joe Schoen did not press Waller or try to convince him to stay. Instead, he took his prize of a 2026 sixth-round pick in exchange for a player he knew wasn’t going to contribute to his team ever again.

Waller’s fit in Miami is already obvious, following the departure of Smith for Pittsburgh, but it works out even more once one digs deeper. Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith was the tight ends coach of the Raiders for the first three years of Waller’s tenure in Oakland and Las Vegas. These were the years that saw Waller break out from a fizzled-out Baltimore late-round receiver to a Pro Bowl tight end. Peliserro claims Waller’s relationship with Smith is “unique” and that they’re “like brothers.” Especially with Waller’s troubled history, having a coach he can trust makes his unretiring make much more sense.

In terms of Waller’s impact on the offense, it seems like it could be another strong fit. Waller’s size and ball-control style of play match well with another offseason addition in wide receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Both players should be excellent compliments to the speed elsewhere on the offense in Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane, granted Waller can return to a high level of play after sitting out for a full season of NFL play.

Even if Waller can’t, all it cost the Dolphins to find out was a sixth-round pick next year. In order to offload Ramsey and his contract, the team had to part ways with Smith and replace him with Waller for a 2026 sixth-rounder. They take on Fitzpatrick’s contract, as well, but a year from now, the team could be free of both players’ contracts, and virtually no hint of the Ramsey fallout will remain.

10 comments Miami Dolphins

AFC North Notes: Browns, Bengals, Smith

By | at May 14, 2025 6:07 pm

The Browns‘ quarterback room has been under a microscope for years, but this offseason drew added scrutiny with the pure volume of Cleveland’s transactions at the position.

The Browns first traded for Kenny Pickett before reuniting with Joe Flacco in free agency. They then double-dipped on quarterbacks in the draft, taking Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth.

Gabriel was expected to be a Day 3 pick, making his selection in the third round a “mild surprise,” according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, though Cleveland wasn’t a shocking destination. They hosted the left-handed passer for a visit on the same day as Sanders and Cam Ward, who both received more media attention for their links with the Browns. But the team was planning to take Gabriel at pick No. 94 all along, even if Jalen Milroe – who went one pick earlier to the Seahawks – was still available.

The Browns’ acquisition of four quarterbacks this offseason has raised questions about their plans for the position moving forward. At least one will likely be surplus to roster requirements in Cleveland, but as Fowler notes, injuries around the league could draw trade interest in Pickett or Flacco, both of whom have moveable one-year contracts.

Here is the latest from the AFC North:

1 comment Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers

Justin Fields Likely To Test Market; Steelers Looking Into Outside QB Addition

By | at March 8, 2025 11:30 pm

The Steelers have been talking to both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson for weeks, but no signing has taken place. It can naturally be assumed complications have interfered with the team’s rumored plan to retain Fields. Recent reports seem to indicate that is the case.

We heard Friday that Fields has a burgeoning market, and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini points to the young QB reaching free agency to hear offers from other clubs. The Jets will be one of the teams in pursuit, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport adds. A Jets-Fields connection emerged recently, and with two options on this market not in play for Gang Green (Sam Darnold and Aaron Rodgers, the latter of whom about to be a Jets release), Fields would make sense — as a bridge if nothing else.

Other teams have interest in Fields, too, Rapoport adds. This will drive up the Steeler backup’s price and test the AFC North team’s resolve. As the Steelers have been primarily connected to only Fields and Wilson, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reports the team has not dismissed pursuing an outside free agent to solve its QB issue.

The team has enjoyed plenty of time to both evaluate their in-house options and conduct negotiations, even though it does not talk extensions in-season. Both passers have clashed with the coaching staff, though. Fields was understandably upset when Mike Tomlin overruled player and staffer support to keep him as a starter, but the veteran HC did not turn back to Fields after making the call to bench him for Wilson once the latter recovered from his calf injury. The Steelers’ Wilson path started well but ended badly, with the team losing its final five games.

Wilson also clashed with OC Arthur Smith, with Dulac adding the two disagreed about the state of the offense. Wilson being upset about an offense’s direction would continue a refrain. He had disagreed with Pete Carroll‘s plan in Seattle, at the height of the “Let Russ cook” movement, and received tremendous input into the direction of the Denver offense during Nathaniel Hackett‘s doomed HC stay. Sean Payton and Wilson did not prove a fit, as a messy divorce commenced. Wilson has been expected to leave Pittsburgh, but if Fields is lured away by a strong offer elsewhere, the 36-year-old may need to be a fallback option.

If the Steelers are to look outside for a new QB, they would have options in Darnold, Rodgers, Daniel Jones and perhaps Kirk Cousins. Beyond Darnold, these options would serve as temporary fixes. Rodgers and Cousins, though, would remind of Wilson’s situations, as other teams would be on the hook for the veterans’ salaries. As of now, however, the Falcons are holding firm on Cousins. A release remains a possibility, however.

The Jets not having Rodgers or Darnold as options and sitting behind the Titans, Browns and Giants in the draft would stand to ramp up a Fields push. The former three-year Bears starter could serve as a multiyear option in New York, which as an OC (Tanner Engstrand) who observed Fields closely while on an NFC North staff. Fields going into his age-26 season would appeal to suitors as well. If Darnold is now most likely to be a Seahawk, the Fields domino would be next to fall.

The Steelers have until 11am CT Monday to keep him off the market. As of now, that appears unlikely to happen. Were Fields to remain unsigned by that point, the Steelers could still bring him back. They would just have to bid against other teams to do so.

95 comments New York Jets Pittsburgh Steelers
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