Mike Tomlin, going into his 19th year as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (the longest-tenured active coach in the NFL), has been as reliable as the daily shifts in the tide throughout his tenure. His hard-nosed style of coaching, paired with his lead-by-example mentality, has enabled him to become the respected coach that he is. In each one of his 18 seasons, Tomlin has always held everyone in the organization accountable – including himself – fostered trust throughout his football team by being an open and honest communicator, and had all of the intangibles necessary to lead any group of guys and inspire confidence within a team.

 

There has always been a certain standard of Tomlin-coached Steelers teams. Famously, Tomlin has never led the team to a losing season. While this is the absolute bar for Tomlin, success that comes after that has been limited. After 15 years paired with future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger, Tomlin can only claim one Super Bowl title (2009). In recent years, why has it been impossible for the Steelers to see any real level of success? Why do promising regular seasons routinely get capped off by terrible playoff showings? There are a couple of different possibilities for what has been holding the Steelers back. Since Roethlisberger, the team has struggled to find a suitable quarterback to go under center. Mason Rudolph never developed into the replacement he was believed to be after being drafted in the third round in 2018, first-round investment Kenny Pickett demanded a trade after two subpar years, and the intriguing pairing of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in 2024 proved worthless (both are now part of different organizations). Another possibility is that an evolving league is leaving Tomlin behind. The old mantra of running the ball and playing stout defense simply does not do the trick anymore. In today’s league, success is calculating and playing the percentages. This means passing the ball on first down and going for it on fourth-and-short. These modern advancements mean nothing to a man like Tomlin, who is firm in his belief that defense is the key to success. Often, these two possibilities have correlated. It is likely that Tomlin’s reliance on defense and the run game has driven new additions at quarterback away from Pittsburgh, as a constant ideology of “playing it safe” does not allow them to showcase their talent and prove to the league that they can be star players.

 

With this limitation in place, and Tomlin fully aware of it, drafting another quarterback with a high draft pick was not a move that the team was willing to make. Since Kenny Pickett decided that he was through with the team after two years, the Steelers have been relying on veterans at the position. First, it was Russell Wilson (taking the starting spot after Week 6 and starting through the playoffs), and as of this offseason, the Steelers’ starting quarterback is longtime Packer, 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers. After a controversial couple of years, Rodgers ended up landing with Pittsburgh, signing a relatively cheap $13 million one-year contract. With this signing of Rodgers, a trend can be seen in how Tomlin’s 19th roster is shaping up. Rodgers is slated to be the oldest starting quarterback in the NFL and is the veteran of veterans as far as NFL QBs go. The Steelers made a flurry of moves in this same direction later on in the offseason. In a trade with the Miami Dolphins, the Steelers sent off safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in exchange for tight end Jonnu Smith and cornerback Jalen Ramsey (the Steelers also sent a 2027 fifth-round pick). The team traded for star wide receiver DK Metcalf and signed him to a five-year extension (trading away 2025 fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-round picks), while also trading away their third-year young star wide receiver George Pickens (Pittsburgh sent Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick in exchange for a 2026 third- and 2027 fifth-round pick). These are only some of the moves that the Steelers have made this offseason, but they each deal with superstars who have the potential to affect the success of a team in a meaningful way. In each of these moves, the team has moved from younger star players, in some cases with a more uncertain outlook, to older, more mature, and predictable star players. By moving on from George Pickens and acquiring DK Metcalf, the Steelers have effectively traded a gamble for a sure thing. Although Pickens had the potential to bring a longer-term solution to the wide receiver position, Metcalf brings assurance of a greater level of play in the short term. In effect, with these moves made, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers are going all in on the present. With no real contingency plan at quarterback (Will Howard may look promising but is unlikely to evolve into a starting-caliber player), the Steelers are banking on Aaron Rodgers and their newly acquired group of veterans to lead them to success now. They have crafted a veteran-heavy roster designed to minimize uncertainty compared with the younger players who recently wore a Steelers uniform.

 

Mike Tomlin, in his 19th season, along with other leadership personnel and major stakeholders, has come to the conclusion that this era of Steelers football cannot survive another attempted rebuild. To draft a quarterback in the first round and spend the next few years it takes to develop him is to forfeit the next few years of competitive football. These are years that players like T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward cannot afford to forfeit. Nearing the end of their Hall of Fame careers, it is now or never when it comes to competing for a Super Bowl. In a way, this is the “Last Dance” for these all-time Steeler greats. Like the Bulls’ 1998 championship run – the year before Phil Jackson was relieved of his duties and the exodus of the Jordan-led championship roster – this small window of a season or two is possibly the last chance that these greats will have to win a Super Bowl. To maximize their chances in this small window of opportunity, this overhaul took place and saw the team get instantly more mature and championship-ready. The fact is that a rebuild at quarterback is inevitable. To find their next Ben Roethlisberger will be the Steelers’ prerogative, whether they can win with Aaron Rodgers or not. By delaying this search by a year or two and attempting to win now, the team is doing something that is owed to greats like Heyward and Watt. Going all in on the present is a bold move and a strategy that could either yield tremendous results or set the team back a few years in their journey to be competitive for a Super Bowl once again. This “Last Dance” will be a truly worthwhile voyage to behold, marking one last attempt at glory at the end of an era.