Steelers' Art Rooney II looks ahead to offseason after disappointing end to 2024 season
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- With the 2024 season in the rearview, the Steelers are looking ahead to next year.
KDKA-TV's Bob Pompeani sat down with Steelers President Art Rooney II as he looked to the future.
A year ago, when speaking with KDKA-TV after a playoff loss at Buffalo, Rooney said he was losing patience with the lack of playoff wins.
A year later, after another playoff loss, which makes it eight years without a postseason win, the message carried a similar tone.
Major changes not expected
Rooney said he was disappointed with the season's ending with five straight losses. Despite what Mike Tomlin said about "changes on many levels," it does not appear that fans will see many, including a dismissal of Tomlin, who signed a three-year extension last offseason and has the owner's trust.
"When you talk about change, last year, we made significant changes on the offensive side of the ball, brought in a new coordinator, brought in some new position coaches on the offensive side, so I would say it's not as though we haven't made any changes," Rooney said. "[I'm] looking forward to the second year under Arthur Smith in terms of the offense, preferably with one of the two quarterbacks we had on the roster this year so we can continue to develop that way."
Rooney said he sees and hears fans and acknowledges their frustration with a lack of success.
"I understand their frustration with how we finished 2024. It just wasn't good enough, not what we expected, and everybody in this building knows that we have work to do and we've got to be better than that," Rooney said. "We've got some big decisions to make and we're going to be rolling up our sleeves and doing the best we can to make sure we're better next year."
Closing a widening gap
Rooney admitted there is a widening gap between where the Steelers are and where teams like the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills have been in recent seasons. He still believes Mike Tomlin is the man to lead the Steelers while saying the team has a lot of work to do to catch up to the NFL's elite clubs.
"We had a three-game stretch there where we played three of the best teams in the league, two of whom are in the Super Bowl, and we kind of saw where we are versus where they are, and we know we've got work to do to take that next step."
Mike Tomlin to remain head coach
Despite a recent report that the Chicago Bears called the Steelers about Mike Tomlin's availability for a potential coach trade, Rooney said the conversation "didn't go very far."
"Trading coaches is not something that happens very often, [but] the bottom line is, you don't win as many games in this league as Mike Tomlin has. He's a good coach. He's as frustrated as anybody in terms of not taking that next step and knows that's what we need to do," Rooney said.
George Pickens' future
Even with players like Russell Wilson and Justin Fields on expiring deals, others like T.J. Watt and wide receiver George Pickens will soon be in line for a contract extension.
Speaking about Pickens' future with the team, Rooney said Pickens "has room to grow and that will impact our thoughts on how we go forward with him," adding that Pickens has immense talent at the receiver position. Rooney hopes to see Pickens reach his full potential with Pittsburgh.
T.J. Watt 'unlikely' to be traded
Though a potential trade for star edge rusher T.J. Watt could fetch the Steelers many valuable assets, the team has no real intentions of trading arguably its best defensive player.
"I'd have to put it in the 'unlikely' category. He's certainly been one of the real, solid pieces we have on that defense. I think he's the kind of guy we want to have in the locker room going forward."