When it comes to news surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers, you know the focus right now is solely on the players reporting to training camp; however, there was a significant story which might have slipped through the cracks as players were reporting to Saint Vincent College.

That story was the fact Mike Tomlin wouldn’t be receiving a contract extension prior to the start of the 2023 regular season.

As most Steelers fans know, the organization typically likes to extend their coach with two years remaining on the current contract. That would mean the Steelers would be working on a new deal for Mike Tomlin prior to the start of this season.

Our sources inside the Steelers organization told SCN it wasn’t an “if” the Steelers give Tomlin a new deal, but “when”. You can imagine the shock when it was reported Wednesday the two parties would not be signing a new contract prior to the start of the season.

When I heard this, I reached out to our source and asked what happened. What he told us was how the two parties didn’t want to negotiate during the season, and wanted to be singularly focused on the 2023 campaign.

He added there is absolutely zero trouble or animosity between the organization and Tomlin. The deal just didn’t get done and both sides suggested it would be best just to wait it out.

When Omar Khan met with the media Thursday, he was asked about the contract, or lack thereof. He said he doesn’t do the coach’s contract, that is Art Rooney II’s job. When Rooney went on Steelers Training Camp Live he spoke about how the 2-year rule with coaches hasn’t always been followed, it just wasn’t always reported to the public. He then continued he doesn’t see a reason for a deal to not get done, and for Tomlin to be the coach longer than his current contract.

2. Art Rooney II on Mike Tomlin contract extension on “Training Camp Live” on https://t.co/gxOt2ZvzFQ: “We’ve done the contract at different points and people seem to read more into that than is warranted. I expect Mike to be here for a lot longer than the existing contract.”

— Mike Prisuta (@DVEMike) July 28, 2023

For some Steelers fans, they would welcome a change at head coach, while others realize if Tomlin were to step away, there would be about 28 other organizations, maybe more, who would be calling him and asking if he’d be willing to coach their team.

The Steelers and Tomlin didn’t get a deal done before the start of the season, but it doesn’t mean they won’t get a deal done at all. I talked about this, and much more, on the Friday episode of the “Let’s Ride” podcast. You can hear that very episode in the player below. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comment section as well.