What could the Steelers garner in a trade for Mike Tomlin?

On Wednesday the NFL coaching carousel continued to twirl around, with several big names finding landing spots. The Houston Texans hired former Texans player DeMeco Ryans as their next head coach, and while this made news it wasn’t the big news of the day. No, the big news was the Denver Broncos trading with the New Orleans Saints to hire Sean Payton.

What most didn’t realize when Payton decided to retire as the Saints’ coach was he was still under contract. In other words, any team who wanted to hire him for a coaching vacancy would have to give the Saints some compensation to acquire his rights.

The Broncos did just that by sending a 2023 first round draft pick and a 2024 second round pick to New Orleans.

This per Adam Schefter of ESPN:

While coaches have been traded before, most notably when Jon Gruden was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, Payton was most visibly seen on FOX Sports before an NFL Sunday as of this past season. The Saints had moved on to Dennis Allen, and so getting a first and a second round draft pick, although not in the same year, for a coach who wasn’t even coaching your team seems like an absolute steal.

This brings me to what crossed my mind when I saw this news come across the wire on Tuesday.

I wonder what the Pittsburgh Steelers could get if they chose to trade Mike Tomlin?

Let me first make myself crystal clear, I’m not saying I believe the Steelers should even entertain trading their head coach away. We know that isn’t how they do business. However, if someone were to call them and give them an offer they can’t refuse — what would that offer look like?

If someone like Payton, who has had success in the NFL, can garner a 1st and a 2nd, could it be possible Tomlin would bring in even more than that? You could certainly make that case considering the success Tomlin has had during a similar tenure as Payton.

If you want to compare the two coaches, look no further than the article below by our own Bill Dundas who outlined the case beautifully:

But what say you? What do you think the Steelers could gain in terms of draft capital, or cash considerations, if the team decided to openly shop Tomlin? After all, Gruden was traded for draft picks and $8 million dollars.

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and remember this is just an exercise in an open-ended discussion. No on is suggesting Tomlin should, or even could, be traded at any time.