Forget trading picks for coaches.
Fox analyst and former Cowboys Super-Bowl winning coach Jimmy Johnson proposed a radical concept to help galvanize the stagnant Dallas and Pittsburgh franchises.
“I’ve got no inside information but things are stale in Pittsburgh. Things are stale in Dallas,” Johnson said Sunday. “And just, food for thought, how about a coaching swap. Mike McCarthy’s a Pittsburgh guy. Let him to go to Pittsburgh, let Mike Tomlin go to Dallas, both franchises would be excited.”
There have been eight trades in the NFL involving coaches, including Denver acquiring Sean Payton last year, but none have involved a coach-for-coach swap.
It would be an absolute blockbuster should teams agree to trade their coaches, especially when it involves two of the league’s most storied franchises.
Even if this may be more of a fantasy idea than reality, Johnson’s suggestion highlights the growing uneasiness surrounding both franchises.
McCarthy’s and Tomlin’s futures with their respective organizations have come under the microscope after each coach’s season ended in poor fashion.
Fans of both teams are seemingly frustrated with their respective leaders amid years of failing to meet expectations.
Tomlin led the Steelers to the playoffs this year and continued his 18-year streak of finishing at least .500, but the Steelers have lost six straight playoff games and have not won in the postseason since the 2016 season following their 28-14 loss to the Ravens on Saturday night.
The Steelers reportedly are planning to keep Tomlin.
“I can’t get over a game last night when we saw the Baltimore Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers have now lost five straight games, that’s just unheard of,” former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw said Sunday on Fox. “Defense was horrible, couldn’t stop the run, couldn’t stop the pᴀss, could’t do anything right last night. Honestly, Jimmy, I’d go to you, you can’t lose playoff games — this doesn’t look anything like the Steelers teams we’ve seen.”
Dallas, meanwhile, has not appeared in a conference тιтle game or Super Bowl since 1996, and McCarthy oversaw this year’s 7-10 season, along with last year’s playoff flop against the Packers.
It’s certainly possible Dallas makes a coaching move since this season marked the last year of McCarthy’s contract, although there seems to be some optimism about the union continuing.
Former Giants star Michael Strahan noted how Dallas’ struggles aren’t in the same class as Pittsburgh’s.
“The only problem is, you said it, both stale but one continues to make the playoffs and the other one doesn’t,” Strahan said. “That’s not stale. One’s having more success.”
Both teams will enter the offseason with plenty of questions, with Pittsburgh unsure if it has a quarterback after Russell Wilson’s play deteriorated down the stretch and Dallas being locked into a top-heavy roster that seemingly has taken a major step back in a loaded NFC.
