Colbert, Tomlin should receive new deals soon

to the Green Bay Packers after the 2010 season.

But I believe in consistency and steadiness. I still believe in Colbert and Tomlin. They have kept the Steelers competitive every season. The team will be competitive again this season despite losing Brown, Le’Veon Bell and Ryan Shazier since December 2017. I think it’s going to win the AFC North Division championship, which would be its seventh under Colbert/Tomlin. I’m not buying all the love for the Cleveland Browns.

It’s easy to keep Colbert, whose contract expires after the 2020 NFL draft. He’s 62 and, according to The Athletic’s Ed Bouchette, appears willing to work on a year-to-year basis. His overall body of work has been terrific. The Steelers have won more games than any NFL team except New England since he took over in 2000. He has no ego and always plays nice with his head coach, winning a Super Bowl with Bill Cowher after the 2005 season and another with Tomlin after the 2008 season. That compatibility is important. Ask the Jets.

They surprised the football world last week by firing general manager Mike Maccagnan just a few weeks after the draft. Maccagnan, according to reports, had no real relationship with Todd Bowles, who was fired as coach after last season, and a bad relationship with new coach Adam Gase. The story line out of New York goes that Gase didn’t want the team to spend big money on a running back in free agency. Maccagnan gave it to Bell, anyway, a huge chunk of the $100 million the Jets spent on free agents this offseason, including former Baltimore linebacker C.J. Mosley. Now, Gase, who alienated just about everybody in Miami when he was Dolphins coach, has complete control of the organization until the next general manager — presumably, hand-picked by him — takes over.

There is a new Team Turmoil in the NFL.

Isn’t it great fun to see Bell in the middle of this mess amid speculation that Gase already could be interested in trading him?

Somehow, that seems right.

But back to Tomlin. His situation is much different than Colbert’s. He is 47, getting ready for his 13th season with the Steelers. He has no apparent plans to retire any time soon and is going to want to be paid in his next contract extension.

Oh, yeah, Tomlin is going to want to be paid.

Why shouldn’t he? Tomlin has been as successful as any coach in the NFL after the Patriots’ Bill Belichick. He should be paid as much as Seattle’s Pete Carroll, New Orleans’ Sean Payton and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh, all of whom make around $9 million per year. He should be paid more, actually.

Tomlin’s shelf life with the Steelers is not expiring. His players still play hard for him. He doesn’t have a culture problem in his locker room. He had a Mr. Big Chest problem. Now, Brown is gone. Tomlin will learn from the mistake he made by allowing Brown to think he was bigger than the team. He will be a better coach because of it.

When you have good football people, you find a way to keep them.

I trust Rooney will do the right thing with Colbert and Tomlin, if not Tuesday, then certainly in July.