The Steelers could slap “co-general manager” to the end of Mike Tomlin’s title and nothing would be amiss. As much as perhaps any head coach in the NFL, he plays a fundamental role in the Steelers’ roster-building process. If a player is on the 53-man roster, you can be pretty confident Tomlin wants to have him there. Even former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said as much.
It might not always work out perfectly, and perhaps at times he relents and lets himself be outweighed by other powers that be. But, on the whole, when the Steelers take the field, they are fielding a team of Tomlin-approved players.