Packers fans may be frustrated enough to dream big, but the Mike Tomlin chatter around Green Bay is a fantasy that doesn’t solve much of anything.
The Packers have dropped seven of their last eight games since Micah Parsons got hurt, and the losses have been ugly in all the wrong ways: a blown double-digit lead in the Wild Card round against the Chicago Bears, a blown lead to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, and a blowout loss in the home opener. Their only victory came in overtime against the ever-struggling New York Jets. That means Green Bay was awfully close to opening the season 0-3 after finishing last season with five straight losses.
It’s no surprise, then, that plenty of fans want Matt LaFleur and GM Brian Gutekunst gone. And while both may deserve serious heat, the idea of swapping in Tomlin doesn’t hold up.
For one thing, Tomlin is under contract to do TV this season. Whether he has a clause to return to the league is unclear, and anything beyond that is speculation.
The Steelers didn’t fire him, either - he chose to take some time off. Even if he wanted back in, Pittsburgh still controls his contract, which means Green Bay would have to give up assets to trade for him rather than simply hire him.
The bigger issue is whether Tomlin would actually fix what’s broken in Green Bay. LaFleur’s problems are pretty clear: he struggles in big games, gets too cute when he doesn’t need to, and his game and clock management are borderline atrocious, especially when the Packers are ahead.
But if that’s the complaint, why trade him for a coach whose Steelers teams too often settled into .500 football and first-round playoff exits? It’s been almost a decade since Tomlin’s last playoff win, and it’s been even longer since Pittsburgh looked like a real contender.
Yes, Tomlin has long been billed as a culture builder and a player-friendly coach. But that reputation doesn’t exactly erase the names Antonio Brown, Ben Roethlisberger, Chase Claypool, Le’Veon Bell, or James Harrison.
And while Green Bay’s defense isn’t flawless, it isn’t the root of the problem. The offense is the bigger mess: a borderline-amateur offensive line, a subpar running game, and a quarterback who has improved but still leans into his gunslinger habits and hero-ball tendencies once the pocket collapses and time starts slipping away.
Tomlin is a good coach who, in this view, was given too much credit for a Super Bowl ring years ago - the same sort of runway Mike McCarthy once enjoyed. Packers fans knew exactly how they felt about McCarthy, and the argument here is simple: why would they want his defensive equivalent?
Even if the Tomlin rumors were real, there’s no reason to believe he should be the answer in Green Bay. And since LaFleur just got an extension, there’s not even a guarantee the Packers are moving on from him this season.
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Estimes workout gives Minnesota another Broncos-linked roster question to monitor, especially as the Vikings keep an eye on the kind of backfield move that can quietly matter when injuries pile up. Delarrin Turner-Yell also had a tryout with New Orleans, and a number of other former Broncos have been moving through recent signings and auditions around the league, but the Vikings next decision on Estime is the one worth watching most closely. [Read more 🡒]
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Vikings Win Streak Is Hiding A Bigger Kevin OConnell Problem
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The issues only look bigger in the wake of Justin Jeffersons absence, since Minnesota has struggled to generate anything consistent without its top target. The most recent game brought the Vikings lowest offensive success rate in 20 seasons, and the club now sits last in the league in total yards per game, leaving OConnell with a much tougher problem than the win-loss column suggests. [Read more 🡒]