Mark Madden: Steelers were always going to extend Mike Tomlin's contract, but why now?

Mike Tomlin was always going to get his contract extended.

He can coach the Steelers for as long he wants. That’s how Dad ran things. Granddad, too. (Actually, Granddad had 13 coaches in the Steelers’ first 35 years, and they only made the playoffs once. But don’t spoil the narrative.)

But even if you don’t think the decision is odd, the timing certainly is.

Tomlin had one year left on his deal and a team option for 2022. Extending Tomlin now, let alone for three seasons, indicates ownership is OK with the Steelers …

• Winning three playoff games in 10 years.

• Utterly collapsing in each of the last three seasons.

• Losing three straight playoff games while allowing an average of 43 points in each.

• Underachieving despite having a Hall of Fame quarterback and many big-time resources that merit doing better than the Steelers have since reaching Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

Most entries on the positive side of Tomlin’s ledger involve the regular season, like never posting a losing record. Does that matter to a franchise that has won six Super Bowls?

It sure does, because always being in the hunt is where the money is. What the Steelers do is primarily about profit and always has been. But that shouldn’t be important to you.

Is the culture damaged? It seems to lack focus and professionalism, though two receivers shooting a reality show during pregame warmup pales in comparison to Antonio Brown running amok when he played for the Steelers.

Does culture affect results? The results have been disappointing no matter why. But if it needs to be fixed, the enabler can’t do that.

Tomlin’s players love him. Is that good? Is his authority respected? Does he wield it properly?

Such debate is superfluous because Tomlin won’t have to sing for his supper. He has the best gig in sports: absolute job security regardless of performance.

The notion that the Steelers couldn’t get a better coach than Tomlin is absurd. Tomlin was a nondescript assistant when the Steelers hired him. So was Bill Cowher. So was Chuck Noll. The Steelers have a knack for unearthing that next great coach. They could do it again.

From 2011-20, 11 coaches had more playoff victories than Tomlin. Five had just as many.

It’s one thing to trail Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh. It’s quite another to be tied with John Fox and Dan Quinn.

Ex-Steelers assistant Bruce Arians had seven playoff wins in that span. He won the Super Bowl this past season.

Yeah, Arians had Tom Brady. But Tomlin’s entire Steelers tenure has featured Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.

Arians “retired” in 2011 — or so said the Steelers when they fired him as offensive coordinator. Besides this past season’s Super Bowl, Arians has since won NFL Coach of the Year twice, both times without Brady. Perhaps the Steelers should have kept Arians and “retired” Tomlin.

In 2018, the Steelers were 7-2-1 but finished 9-6-1 and out of the playoffs. In 2019, the Steelers were 8-5 but finished 8-8 and out of the playoffs. In 2020, the Steelers were 11-0 but finished 12-4 before going one and done in the playoffs.

That’s a dumpster fire. Lots of coaches don’t survive that. Nor do they survive falling apart in three straight playoff games. The Steelers trailed 28-0 in the first quarter of this past season’s wild-card loss to Cleveland. It was an absolute debacle.

The Steelers have decided to retain Tomlin despite the last 10 years, not because of them. But they most assuredly don’t see it that way.

They could have waited. But what’s the point? That would just delay the inevitable, which is the contract extension Tomlin just got. It was always going to happen.

The substandard is the standard.