The Jacksonville Jaguars are in desperate need of someone to restore credibility to their franchise.  They are trying to recover from the worst coaching hire in recent memory.  Is it crazy to think they would make a hard push to convince the Steelers to trade Mike Tomlin?  We know what the Steelers answer would be, but the Jags have enough ammunition to make it a difficult decision for Art Rooney and company.

Trading coaches is a thing:

Trading coaches is not without precedent in the NFL.  In 2002, the Oakland Raiders traded John Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two first round picks, two seconds, and $8 million in cash.  This trade worked out pretty well for Tampa as they would go on to win the first Super Bowl in team history under Gruden.  https://www.sportscasting.com/why-did-the-raiders-trade-jon-gruden-to-the-buccaneers/

What would it take?

Using that trade as a guide, what would the Jaguars have to give up to get the Steelers to budge on Tomlin?  Keep in mind those draft picks acquired by Oakland were sure to be in the mid to late rounds.  Jacksonville, at least for this season, will be picking in the top three at a minimum.  Would the first overall pick entice the Steelers to budge?

That would certainly have to be the starting point, but Pittsburgh would require much more.  Something along the lines of Two firsts, two seconds and at least a player or two would be a tough haul to turn down.

Obviously none of those players would be quarterback Trevor Lawrence.  No way the Jags would put him in any deal, and Mike Tomlin would never accept going to a team stripped down to nothing.  They do have other interesting players however.  Laviska Shenault, Myles Jack, Josh Allen, and Travis Etienne to name just a few.  There’s no question Jacksonville has the ammunition to make a “Godfather” offer to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Impossible to convince?

It’s pretty much a given that trying to convince the Steelers to trade Mike Tomlin would be nearly impossible.  This is probably the most loyal franchise in the NFL, and one who doesn’t change coaches more than once a decade.  It’s more than likely Pittsburgh would hang up the phone before the Jaguars could finish the first sentence.

Would this be the right decision for this franchise however?  The 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers will be a roster filled with major holes to begin the off-season.  A trade like this would offer this team an ability to rebuild quickly with quality draft picks.  They could use the picks to build a solid contender in a few years, or use them to trade for a quarterback like Russel Wilson or Aaron Rogers. This is a concept we have brought up in the past as a way to improve this team going forward.  Fixing the Steelers Step One: Trade Mike Tomlin

In the end this is a fun hypothetical, but in reality has very little chance of happening.  The Steelers will stay the course with Mike Tomlin as the head coach for years to come.  The only thing that could change this is if Tomlin himself were to ask out.  Which also seems far fetched given everything we know about him.  If the Jaguars were ever to consider making this call, they had be better be prepared to give up more than they ever imagined. And thats just to keep from getting hung up on.