We’ll find out in December when the NFL will have its final roster cuts of the season, and with teams like the Rams and Cardinals looking to build around quarterback Carson Palmer, the future of head coach Mike Tomlin will be at stake.
But first, let’s take a look at which NFL team has the most potential to fire Tomlin, according to a recent ESPN poll.
As of Wednesday morning, Tomlin has a 2.8 percent approval rating, according, ESPN.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Here are the top five most likely candidates for the job, according the poll: Oakland Raiders (5.4 percent approval) Arizona Cardinals (5 percent) Denver Broncos (5-2) Philadelphia Eagles (4.8) Minnesota Vikings (4-3) New York Giants (4 percent) Houston Texans (4 points) San Diego Chargers (3.7) San Francisco 49ers (3-4) The Rams and Chargers are the two teams in line to be in the playoffs this season, but it’s unlikely the 49ers or Chargers will be able to make it to the postseason without Tomlin.
Tomlin was hired to build a playoff team in Los Angeles in 2014, but the team has fallen off since then.
It won’t be until next season, when Tomlin returns to the helm, that the Rams can make the playoffs.
Tomlinson won’t need to worry about any of that with the 49er roster in flux, as the team is looking to add veteran depth in the secondary, but he’ll have to find some other people to fill out the roster.
In that sense, he may be the perfect hire for the 49ing.
San Francisco has the fifth-worst quarterback rating in the NFL, according ESPN.
Tomlins previous stint in San Francisco as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach led to a 5-8 record, the second-worst in the league, in 2014.
It’s also worth noting that he was hired as an assistant by Tomlin’s former head coach, Jim Harbaugh, in the summer of 2014, so Harbaugh likely has more influence on the Rams’ decision-making process.