'Absolute Joke,' Aaron Rodgers Talks Mike Tomlin, Matt LaFleur Hot-Seat Buzz Amid NFL Rumors

After what may have been the final game of his legendary NFL career, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw his support behind head coach Mike Tomlin on Monday night.

Amid rumors and speculation regarding Tomlin's future, Rodgers made his feelings known, telling reporters his thoughts on the notion of Tomlin potentially being on the hot seat.

"When I first got in the league, there wouldn't be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat," Rodgers said. "But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there's snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they're talking about, to me that's an absolute joke."

Referring to his former Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur in addition to Tomlin, Rodgers continued by saying, "And for either those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we're at as a society and a league."

On Monday night, the Steelers' 2025 season came to an end with a 30-6 home loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC Wild Card Round of the playoffs.

▶️ Full Texans-Steelers Recap

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The game was a tightly contested, defensive battle for most of the night, but the Texans broke the game open in the fourth quarter with 23 unanswered points, including two defensive touchdowns.

Per ESPN's Brooke Pryor, some fans at the Steelers' Acrisure Stadium could be heard chanting, "Fire Tomlin," once the team's fate became apparent.

Despite another disappointing end to a season for the Steelers, Rodgers expressed his belief that Tomlin is still the right guy for the job in Pittsburgh, saying, "Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years. And more than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don't think about making a change, but there's a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it's not how I would do things and not how the league used to be."

Tomlin is the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL currently, having led the Steelers for the past 19 seasons.

Under his guidance, the Steelers are 193-114-2 with 13 playoff appearances, eight AFC North titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one Super Bowl win. Pittsburgh has also never had a losing season during Tomlin's tenure.

While the Steelers have reached the playoffs in each of the past three seasons and five of the past six, they have not won a playoff game since the 2016 season, which is undoubtedly where the hot seat talk comes from.

Talk of a potential coaching change in Pittsburgh is perhaps bolstered even more by the fact that the Steelers' AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, recently fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons on the job.

Harbaugh and Tomlin have similar résumés, and if Baltimore was willing to move on, it is fair to wonder if Pittsburgh may not be far behind.

If Tomlin does return for a 20th season at the helm, it isn't yet known who his quarterback will be, as the 42-year-old Rodgers has yet to publicly announce whether he intends to retire or continue playing next season.