According to Jason La Canfora, the Jets are already laying the preliminary groundwork for a pursuit of former Steelers HC Mike Tomlin, who will be a white-hot coaching candidate in the next hiring cycle.
La Canfora quoted an executive who knows Jets owner Woody Johnson well who expects New York to be at the front of the line.
“Woody is starting to ask a lot of questions; he’s doing his homework on Tomlin,” the exec said. “This one has legs. I’m telling you. Mike is in New York at Rockefeller Center for NBC, Woody is back in charge at the facility, and he knows how steep the competition will be. You are going to hear a lot about the Jets.”
La Canfora adds other sources close to Johnson think he’s ready to break his precedent of hiring first-time coaches and make a run at Tomlin if a coaching change is necessary, and that the owner would view it as a massive victory to land a coach with Tomlin’s stature.
As for current HC Aaron Glenn, Johnson didn’t move on after a disastrous first season and is expected to have some patience in 2026 for the coach he hand-picked. People covering the team don’t think Johnson wants to fire Glenn during the season if he can help it.
Still, the prevailing sentiment around the league on Glenn is pessimistic.
“Glenn is a dead man walking, and he knows it,” one general manager told La Canfora. “I hear the same thing about Woody wanting Tomlin. It makes complete sense — money won’t be an object.”
La Canfora goes on to say if the Jets do land Tomlin, there are people connecting them to Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. There would be mutual appeal for Tomlin and Jackson to a union after years of competing against each other in the AFC North, and the Jets have three first-round picks in next year’s draft class.
La Canfora previously reported multiple executives and agents expect Jackson to request a trade in 2027, as he’s still not signed to a long-term deal.
The Ravens were open about their desire to get a new deal done with Jackson this offseason before the start of free agency in March. That didn’t happen, though.
Jackson had his contract restructured and is under contract through 2027, with unrestricted free agency scheduled for 2028. His cap hit in 2027 is $84.3 million, and he has a no-tag clause as well.
Both Jackson, who doesn’t have an agent and represents himself, and the Ravens play things close to the vest when it comes to contract talks, so there’s very little information for other teams and the media to go on.
The last time Jackson was up for an extension, talks also dragged on as he sought a fully guaranteed contract and he did request a trade. Baltimore ultimately used the non-exclusive tag on Jackson that could have opened him up to an offer sheet from another team, but no one else engaged. The two sides agreed on a new deal out of nowhere just before the draft.
The two-time MVP has indicated he’s leaving the fully guaranteed contract talk back in 2022 when asked about it this offseason, one of the few things either side has said about negotiations.
Tomlin, 54, was hired as the Steelers’ head coach back in 2007 and managed to win a Super Bowl in just his second year with the franchise.
The Steelers went to two Super Bowls under Tomlin and won once. He also has never had a losing season as an NFL coach.
He elected to resign from his post following the 2025 season.
In total, Tomlin has a career record of 193-114-2 (.628 winning percentage), which includes 13 playoff appearances in 19 seasons. His playoff record is 8-12.
Jackson, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2018. He played out the fourth year of his four-year, $9,471,652 contract that included a $5,968,472 signing bonus.
The Ravens picked up Jackson’s fifth-year option, which cost them $23 million, fully guaranteed for the 2022 season. He was due to be an unrestricted free agent in 2023 when the Ravens used the non-exclusive franchise tag at a cost of $32.3 million, fully guaranteed.
Baltimore later signed Jackson to a five-year, $260 million extension. He’s due base salaries of $20.25 million, $51.25 million, and $51.25 million in the final three years of the deal.
In 2025, Jackson appeared in 13 games for the Ravens and threw for 2,549 yards, 21 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while completing 63.6 percent of his passes. He also rushed 67 times for 349 yards and two touchdowns.
We’ll have more on the Jets, Tomlin and Jackson as the news is available.
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