HEADLINES

Mike Tomlin

AFC Notes: Steelers, Bengals, Broncos

July 26th, 2017 at 8:51pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Contract extensions may be in the offing for Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin, writes Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Colbert’s contract will expire after next year’s draft, while Tomlin is still under wraps for two more seasons. That’s typically when the Steelers have worked to extend their head coaches in the past, observes Bouchette. They’ve had just three since 1969, the year of Chuck Noll‘s hiring. Bill Cowher also came before Tomlin, who has mimicked those two with a resoundingly successful run in Pittsburgh. The Tomlin-led club has made the playoffs seven times out of 10, including last year, and hasn’t finished with fewer than eight wins in a season. Overall, the Steelers have gone 103-57 with a Super Bowl victory and two AFC championships under Tomlin.

More from the AFC:

  • One of Tomlin’s AFC North rivals, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, seems less secure in his role. Lewis is in a contract year, but owner Mike Brown indicated Tuesday that he’ll go at his own pace on a potential extension for the coach, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. Still, Brown is satisfied with Lewis, who trails only the Patriots’ Bill Belichick in tenure among head coaches. “That should tell you how I feel about him. He has my respect, my regard, my confidence,” said Brown. “We’ve been through this before. Sometimes it was an additional prod. Heck, we all know how it went last year. We wish it had gone better, so maybe we’ll see a better year this year and things will sort out then.” The Bengals stumbled to a 6-9-1 mark in 2016, snapping a five-year playoff streak and giving them a 118-103-3 record during Lewis’ 14-season stint. Amazingly, the team has lost all seven of its postseason games with Lewis at the helm.
  • Even though he has been cleared for everything, Broncos coach Vance Joseph says that the team will be approaching things cautiously with Jamaal Charles in an effort to keep him fresh for the season. That makes James Palmer of NFL.com (on Twitter) wonder if that means Charles has already made the team. For all of his career accomplishments, it has been said that Charles may only have a 50/50 shot of making the final cut.
  • The executive who signed Charles in free agency this year, John Elway, received a promotion when the Broncos awarded him a contract extension Monday, reports Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. The Hall of Fame quarterback is now Denver’s president of football operations/general manager. He had been their executive VP of football operations/GM since 2011.
  • The Ravens had expressed interest in running back Bobby Rainey even before Kenneth Dixon went down with a meniscus injury, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com. Baltimore had been in contact with Rainey throughout the summer, per Hensley, but news of Dixon’s impending operation presumably sped up contract talks and led to his signing Tuesday. Rainey, who had also drawn interest from the Jets earlier this year, joins a backfield that includes Terrance West, Danny Woodhead, Buck Allen, and Lorenzo Taliaferro.

Dallas Robinson and Zach Links contributed to this post.

Coaching Notes: Bills, Payton, Jaguars, Bucs

December 24th, 2016 at 11:16am CST by Ben Levine

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has compiled a 101-57 record during his 10 years in Pittsburgh, and he’s also led his squad to a pair of Super Bowl appearances, winning one. Despite the apparent success, Terry Bradshaw isn’t impressed.

The Hall of Fame Steelers quarterback said on FOX Sports 1 that Tomlin isn’t among the best active coaches in the NFL.

“I don’t think he’s a great coach at all,” Bradshaw said (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “He’s a nice coach. To me, and I’ve said this, he’s really a great cheerleader guy. I don’t know what he does. But I don’t think that he’s a great coach at all. His name never even pops in my mind when we think about great coaches in the NFL.”

Bradshaw attributes much of Tomlin’s success to the current head coach’s predecessor, Bill Cowher. While Tomlin certainly inherited an elite roster, you can’t deny his success over the past decade.

Let’s take a look at some other coaching notes from around the NFL…

  • The Bills haven’t decided on head coach Rex Ryan‘s future with the organization. However, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that if the team does move on from Ryan, it could be partially motivated by the team’s desire to keep offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn in the organization. Lynn will likely get some interviews for head coaching gigs this offseason, and he’d presumably be a candidate for the Bills’ gig if the position opens up.
  • Sean Payton could have been the Colts coach this season, reports Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Ultimately, the current Saints head coach didn’t want to take a pay cut from $10MM per year to $8MM per year.
  • The Jaguars have hired Jed Hughes of Korn Ferry International to help assist the front office in hiring a new head coach, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The firm specializes in conducting “executive searches.”
  • The Buccaneers defense has been on a roll recently, and defensive coordinator Mike Smith has predictably been mentioned as a potential head coach candidate. However, with the team looking to make the playoffs, Smith is trying to block out all of that speculation. “Rumors are rampant this time of the year,” Smith told ESPN.com’s Jenna Laine. “I’m enjoying my time here. I want to make this team the best team it can be. You don’t address rumors. That’s what happens this time of year.”

Mike Tomlin Suspended Eli Rogers Vs. Patriots

October 26th, 2016 at 10:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers have struggled all season, and really throughout 2016, to have their starting offense together thanks to injuries and suspensions.

In addition to Ben Roethlisberger‘s injury, the player expected to be Pittsburgh’s primary slot receiver, Eli Rogers, was unavailable against the Patriots last weekend. A source informed Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) the wideout was serving a Mike Tomlin-issued suspension for an unspecified violation in Week 7.

Rogers missed two games earlier in the season with turf toe and has struggled to make an impact since a solid opening-night performance that saw the newcomer catch six passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, one that came off a deflection. The second-year UDFA who spent last season on IR has 13 receptions for 135 yards this season.

Pittsburgh has featured exactly zero members of the projected statistic-accruing contingent of its starting offense suit up for all seven games.

Roethlisberger remains out due to his recent knee injury, and Le’Veon Bell incurred a three-game drug suspension. Martavis Bryant is suspended for the season, and Ladarius Green began it on the PUP list. Neither Rogers nor Markus Wheaton has been healthy throughout, either.

AFC Notes: Tunsil, Carroo, Ravens, Steelers

May 1st, 2016 at 7:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Dolphins slotted Laremy Tunsil as their No. 2-rated player before the draft, with Jaguars defensive back Jalen Ramsey at No. 1, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reports. Had Tunsil not fallen to them at No. 13, the Dolphins would have been inclined to trade back and seek cornerback help, Salguero writes.

Among corners, the Dolphins had Eli Apple rated No. 2 behind Ramsey. Although Miami traded for Byron Maxwell, the team is now without all three of its primary starters from 2015 — Brent Grimes, Brice McCain and Jamar Taylor, the latter being traded to the Browns for a seventh-round pick Saturday.

Here’s more from the AFC as we transition into a post-draft world, beginning with more on the Dolphins’ board.

  • Miami traded up in the third round to take Rutgers wideout Leonte Carroo, but it’s not where the ex-Scarlet Knights target came off the board that’s interesting; it’s where his new team rated him. “We thought he was the second-best receiver in the draft,” Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said, via Salguero. That assessment runs counter to just about every pre-draft analysis in a draft that saw four wideouts go in the first round and three come off the board in Round 2. Prior to Miami selecting Carroo at No. 86, the Texans took Braxton Miller at No. 85. The Dolphins surrendered a sixth-round pick in this year’s draft — which it traded to the Vikings to select another receiver, Jakeem Grant — as well as third- and fourth-round choices in 2017 to become the ninth team to select a receiver this year. Rutgers suspended Carroo twice in 2015, and he was arrested once on a domestic violence-related charge.
  • Tunsil’s selection strikes Salguero as interesting considering as the No. 2 player on the Dolphins’ board, they couldn’t have done the exhaustive work on him as they did on someone like Apple or another player they thought would be in play at 13. He uses the Patriots, who did not pick until the 60s, not doing much work on Ramsey as an example.
  • Although Ozzie Newsome denied the Ravens picked Ronnie Stanley over Tunsil because of the now-infamous bong video posted on the tackle’s Twitter account before the draft, Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun reports that the social media posting was passed around the Ravens draft room prior to the team selecting Stanley. The Ray Rice moment still hangs over the franchise, Schmuck writes, inducing Baltimore to play it safe when it comes to questionable prospects.
  • The past two years, the Steelers have chosen 11 defensive players compared to just four on offense, and Mike Tomlin told media (including Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) it’s realistic three could emerge as starters in Week 1. “I believe it’s realistic,” Tomlin said of the prospect of the team’s top three picks — cornerback Artie Burns, safety Sean Davis and nose tackle Javon Hargrave — starting against Washington in September. “That’s why we chose them where we chose them. But they have to earn it, and we’ll give them the opportunity to do that.” Following the departures of Steve McLendon and Brandon Boykin, the team has holes in its lineup at No. 2 corner and at defensive tackle.

Draft Rumors: QBs, Ramsey, Treadwell, Browns

March 29th, 2016 at 6:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jalen Ramsey would prefer to play cornerback despite excelling at both secondary positions at Florida State, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union reports.

His preference for the higher-paying position, though, comes with the obvious caveat of being willing to play safety as well, possibly expressing malleability to increase his chances of being taken in the top three picks.

One AFC scout in attendance said, “Take your pick; either one” regarding Ramsey’s NFL fit. “He has the range; he’s got some length to him, and he has the ball skills,” the scout told O’Halloran regarding Ramsey’s ability to slot at free safety. “He has a lot of things going for him.”

Four GMs — the Titans‘ Jon Robinson, the Steelers‘ Kevin Colbert, the Buccaneers‘ Jason Licht and the Bills‘ Doug Whaley — attended the pro day, while Mike Mularkey and Mike Tomlin were on hand as well.

Here’s the latest about this year’s crop of top prospects.

  • The 49ers and Browns are slated to work out Jared Goff, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Both Hue Jackson and Chip Kelly were in attendance at the Cal quarterback’s pro day March 18.
  • San Francisco also has a workout scheduled with Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee reports. The 49ers are expected to meet with Carson Wentz as well soon, as are the Browns, per Barrows. Cook is rated by most as the No. 4 quarterback on the board and could fall to the second round, while Wentz is expected to be chosen in the top 10. Colin Kaepernick‘s $11.9MM salary in 2016 becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the 49ers’ roster by 3 p.m., Thursday.
  • The Eagles plan to work out Wentz on Thursday, ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan tweets. Philadelphia’s brass observed Goff during a private workout on Monday. While these two passers have become the consensus top two quarterback prospects, Caplan hears from several NFL coaches and executives that Goff is better equipped to come in and contribute immediately (Twitter link).
  • Caplan also reports that one NFL offensive coordinator would sit Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, who hovers a bit below Goff and Wentz on experts’ draft boards as of now, for two seasons while the lanky talent learns the pro game (Twitter link).
  • Laquon Treadwell‘s 4.63-second 40-yard dash clocking at Ole Miss’ pro day didn’t necessarily shock scouts in attendance but caused some concerns about the first-round prospect’s long-term viability, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report hears (video link). The scouts Cole spoke with don’t believe the Ole Miss early-entry talent’s ability to get open effectively in the next four or five years will be affected by his lack of straight-line speed, but there are worries about whether Treadwell can have a long, successful career. The scouts expressed concern that once the rangy receiver loses some of his already-mediocre speed his route-running and body-positioning prowess won’t be enough to compensate.
  • The Browns are bringing in Treadwell for a visit Thursday, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal reports. Despite his lack of top-end speed, Treadwell is still expected to come off the board by the middle of the first round, which would be in the Browns’ range only if they traded down from their No. 2 overall slot or up from No. 32, Ulrich writes.
  • Temple wide receiver Robby Anderson visited the Browns today, Ulrich reports. Jackson told media at the owners’ meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., receiver is a position is an area the Browns “need to address, obviously,” as Josh Gordon‘s status for 2016 is still unknown. “I’ve gone on record before saying I like to have bigger, faster guys play the position,” Jackson told media. “We have some very talented guys right now. They’re slight in stature, but they’re tough, and I’m looking forward to working with them and see if there’s more that we can gain from them. But at the same time, I still think it’s an area that we need to get better. And we will.”

Steelers Extend Mike Tomlin Through 2018

July 23rd, 2015 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

12:21pm: With the extension, Tomlin will now be among the top five highest-paid coaches in the NFL and all sports, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

8:57am: The Steelers have extended head coach Mike Tomlin‘s contract by two years, locking him up through the 2018 season, the team announced today in a press release. Tomlin’s deal had previously been set to expire after the 2016 season, so the new pact gives him a little more long-term security in Pittsburgh.

“I very much appreciate this contract extension, but my sole focus has been and will continue to be meeting the challenges that lie ahead for the 2015 season,” Tomlin said in a statement. “These past nine years in Pittsburgh have been a wonderful experience for my family, and I look forward to pursuing what is the Steelers’ goal every year – bringing another Super Bowl championship to the City of Pittsburgh.”

Tomlin’s extension continues the Steelers’ tradition of coaching stability — the franchise has only had three head coaches since Chuck Noll assumed the role in 1969, with Bill Cowher taking over for Noll in 1992, and Tomlin replacing Cowher in 2007.

Since becoming the head coach in Pittsburgh, Tomlin has an 82-46 record in the regular season, and has led the team to five playoff berths. The Steelers were Super Bowl champions in the 2008 season, and fell just short two years later, losing Super Bowl XLV to the Packers.

In an era that features plenty of turnover in the coaching ranks, Tomlin is the sixth-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL. Only Bill Belichick (Patriots), Marvin Lewis (Bengals), Tom Coughlin (Giants), Mike McCarthy (Packers), and Sean Payton (Saints) have been with their respective teams longer than Tomlin has been with the Steelers.

Draft Notes: Bucs, Mariota, Browns, Steelers

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:05pm CST by Ben Levine

The Buccaneers could take many different routes with the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, and head coach Lovie Smith indicated as much on Monday. Appearing on the NFL Network, Smith said his team could surprise the league by not selecting either Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com):

“I can see why people would assume we’re gonna take a quarterback. There are two excellent quarterbacks that are available at the top and when you get a chance to draft someone like that, most of the time, people do. But there are other good players in the draft also. I think it’s a deep draft for defensive line. Like last year, there are a lot of great receivers that are coming out. I think, just overall, the amount of athletes coming into each incoming class, it’s pretty deep for players that can make an immediate impact.”

As Florio points out, Smith could be hinting that he’s willing to trade the pick.

Let’s take a look at some more assorted draft notes from around the league…

  • ESPN.com’s Eric Williams tweets that the Chargers will schedule a workout with Mariota.
  • Meanwhile, Browns general manager Ray Farmer told reporters that his team will also conduct a private workout with Mariota (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). Farmer indicated that he’s talked with other teams about moving up or down the draft board.
  • The Dolphins will work out Colorado State quarterback Garrett Grayson, according to ESPN.com’s James Walker. Grayson is projected to be drafted in the second round or later.
  • Maryland wideout Stefon Diggs is scheduled to visit the 49ers in April, reports Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. Diggs finished last season with 62 catches for 792 yards and five touchdowns.
  • Indiana running back Tevin Coleman will be busy in the coming weeks, as he has workouts scheduled with the Panthers, Cardinals, Chargers and Ravens, according to Wilson. The Heisman candidate previously met with the Lions.
  • After talking to Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says he’d be “stunned” if Pittsburgh didn’t take a cornerback in the first round (Twitter link).

AFC North Notes: Smith, Brown, Allen, Browns

October 28th, 2014 at 6:06pm CST by Matt Feminis

Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith (foot sprain) will be out “at least a few weeks,” writes the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson, who points to Nov. 24 against the Saints or the following week against the Chargers as possible return dates for Smith. When asked about adding a free-agent cornerback, head coach John Harbaugh said, “We don’t have to. If we can find the right guy, we’ll do that. They are scarce.” Instead, for now, the Ravens will turn to Dominique Franks to replace Smith. The team also has Chykie Brown, who has been inactive the last two games.

In other AFC North news…

  • Despite the Ravens stating publicly they don’t intend to go outside the current roster for cornerback help, Wilson tweets the team inquired about Tony Carter of the Broncos prior to the trade deadline.
  • The Steelers are another AFC North team with cornerback issues because Cortez Allen, who signed a five-year, $25MM deal before the season, has not only lost his starting job, but is in danger of being inactive, writes Ray Fittipaldo in the Post-Gazette. Head coach Mike Tomlin insists he remains confident in Allen’s abilities, but says the cornerback is leaving too many plays on the field: “[Allen] has to finish opportunities that he’s not getting done. Oftentimes, he is in position because he does a great job getting in position, but position is just an element of it. You have to finish.”
  • Fittipaldo also notes the Steelers expect to have right tackle Marcus Gilbert back in the starting lineup. He sat out last week with a concussion.
  • Steelers receiver Antonio Brown leads the NFL in receptions and targets, ranks second in receiving yards, is fourth in receiving touchdowns and paces all receivers with a 13.1 grade from Pro Football Focus. In Brown’s case, the stats don’t lie, says Tomlin, who boasted (via the team’s website) that the fifth-year playmaker is performing at an elite level. “He’s one of the best in the world at what he does,” said Tomlin at his weekly news conference. “(Antonio) is physically and mentally on top of his game, and when you have somebody who’s playing like that, you step into a stadium and he’s a known issue but still he performs. We say similar things about guys like J.J. Watt. We knew what he was capable of when we were getting ready to play the Houston Texans, but it still doesn’t stop the storm from coming. Antonio is playing at that type of a level from a wide receiver standpoint, a J.J. Watt discussion kind of a level.”
  • The Browns rank last in the NFL in punt returns, which prompted ESPN Cleveland’s Tony Grossi to wonder if Josh Cribbs might get a phone call. However, head coach Mike Pettine quashed any speculation by saying, “Josh’s name hasn’t come up.”

North Notes: Steelers, Ravens, Packers, Bears

July 11th, 2014 at 9:00pm CST by Ben Levine

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin isn’t losing any sleep determining how to use all of his running backs. Le’Veon Bell had a terrific rookie season, and the team added free agent LeGarrette Blount and rookie Dri Archer this past offseason. Figuring out how to best utilize those backs is a tough task, so the coach is going to leave it up to the players. Tomlin told NFL Network’s Total Access hosts Lindsay Rhodes and Brian Baldinger that he’ll let the preseason determine his running back depth chart for next season.

Via NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus…

“I’m excited about letting these guys sort themselves out from a division of labor standpoint. I know that they’re all committed to being a significant component to what we do.”

Tomlin also gushed about his three options…

“Le’Veon Bell has had a great offseason. He’s really shown that he is excited about taking the next step in terms of work that he’s done thus far, particularly from a conditioning standpoint.

“LeGarrette Blount has a definite football playing personality, one that not only is evident on the field but in the locker room. Think he’s going to be positive to our efforts.”

Tomlin added that Archer was a “speed guy” who would play both running back and wide receiver.

Let’s check out some more notes form the NFL’s North divisions…

  • Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown has left Roc Nation and is planning on returning to Rosenhaus Sports for representation, reports Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo and Ross Jones (via Garafolo’s Twitter).
  • The Ravens defense has changed drastically since the team won the championship in 2013, writes Hanzus. The team dedicated their top-three picks to defenders in 2013 and 2014, with Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata remaining as the lone starters from their Super Bowl victory.
  • Following the departure of Evan Dietrich-Smith, the Packers will likely go with former fourth-round pick J.C. Tretter as their starting center, writes ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky. The 23-year-old missed his entire rookie season with a broken ankle.
  • Bears rookie Brock Vereen has “virtually established himself as the player to beat” for the starting safety position, writes CSNChicago.com’s John Mullin. The writer labels the fourth-round pick as a “draft gem.”

AFC North Notes: Browns, Shazier, Dennard

May 9th, 2014 at 1:27pm CST by Matt Feminis

Although there was some speculation that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam may have had a hand in the club’s decision to trade up for Johnny Manziel, GM Ray Farmer says that “at no point in the draft did Jimmy try to influence the decisions that were made” (Twitter link via Lindsay Jones of USA Today). Meanwhile, head coach Mike Pettine says Manziel won’t simply be handed the starting job, and that he’ll compete with Brian Hoyer, per Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via Twitter).

  • Ryan Shazier, drafted 15th overall by the Steelers, “has no holes” according to head coach Mike Tomlin, who was quoted by Ed Bouchette in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  • In an additional blog post, Bouchette defended the selection: “Shazier is exactly the kind of player Chuck Noll told Art Rooney Jr. he needed when the Steelers hired him to coach them in 1969 – great athletes with great production. That’s what Shazier has. . .He also has the kind of speed where you could line him up with some of the fastest wide receivers and cornerbacks and he would beat most of them to the tape.”
  • Sitting at No. 46 in the second round, the Steelers could benefit from an expected run of offensive linemen, says ESPN’s Scott Brown, who lists ten prospects who could be on the Steelers radar, four of which are echoed by Bouchette: Penn State WR Allen Robinson, Indiana WR Cody Latimer, Notre Dame defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt and Minnesota defensive lineman Ra’Shede Hageman.
  • Also buried in Bouchette’s post were a few tidbits: Shazier is an obvious upgrade over Vince Williams, especially when it comes to speed and range; Shazier might have been preferred over CJ Mosley, in part, because of durability; and anything the team gets out of Sean Spence will be a bonus, as they are “not counting on him at all.”
  • Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome was looking for a “bonanza” to move off the 17th pick, which he used to select Mosley, whose combination of outstanding tape and special intangibles impressed team brass. The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Zrebiec quotes assistant GM Eric DeCosta, who raved about Mosley: “He’s fast, instinctive, tough, smart, talented, a playmaker. People always ask about the best available player and what that means. He was the best available player on our board and he would have been the best available player on our board at 10. He’s a great football player.”
  • As they did with Alabama product Dre Kirkpatrick two years ago, the Bengals won’t ask Darqueze Dennard to start in his first year, writes Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

Zach Links contributed to this post.