LATROBE, Pa. -- While a great deal of focus has been on the contract extensions the Steelers might or might not complete before the end of training camp, there are a couple of other lingering issues that could be a distraction for the team if they aren't addressed.
Those would be the contract situations of Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert.
With the Steelers reporting to Saint Vincent College today for training camp, both of those deals could be on the front burner for the team.
The situation with Tomlin has been well documented. Tomlin has two years remaining on his current deal -- which pays him around $7 million per season -- and the team typically extends its head coaches in that time frame.
The last time the Steelers didn't do that was in 2005. Bill Cowher won the Super Bowl that season, but 2006 became a lame duck year as it became a well-known secret that it would be Cowher's last with the team.
At 47 and entering his 12th season, Tomlin doesn't seem to be ready to hang up his coaching hat just yet, as Cowher was at 49 and entering his 15th season, but he does have some reasons he might not be ready to commit to a long-term deal. Tomlin's oldest son, Dino, is an incoming freshman on the football team at the University of Maryland, while his younger son, Mason, is entering his senior year of high school.
The going rate for NFL coaches also has increased since Tomlin signed his last extension in 2017.
Bill Belichick, Jon Gruden, Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh and Ron Rivera are all making more than Tomlin. An extension for Tomlin could cost in the range of $9- to $11-million per season.
Some of the team's investors also have expressed some concerns about Tomlin's coaching, though the decision whether or not to extend him ultimately belongs to team president Art Rooney II.
Colbert, meanwhile, is entering the final year of a three-year contract that runs through the end of the 2020 draft.
At 62, he's in a different place in his career than Tomlin. The team's former director of player personnel, and current GM since 2000, Colbert has been crucial to the team's success over the past two decades. He signed his last extension at the end of August in 2017, just a few weeks after Tomlin signed his current deal.
Both could get done soon as the Steelers seem intent on avoiding any of the distractions that perhaps helped derail their seasons the past couple of years.
OUR RUN-UP SERIES TO LATROBE
10 days: Does Ben still have 'it?'
9 days: Is the defense fixed?
8 days: How to replace AB?
7 days: How do rookies fit in?
6 days: Turnovers, please?
5 days: Back by committee?
3 days: Is Boswell fixed?
2 days: Top camp battles
1 day: Super Bowl contender? Sure