Thursday’s “First Call” highlights a wild story about Mike Tomlin’s name coming up for a potential NFL coaching vacancy. There’s an update on that Aaron Rodgers UFA tag. George Pickens’ contract fate is known.

And Robert Morris is going to be a lacrosse hotbed this weekend.

Another Mike for Mike?

When Mike Tomlin resigned as the Pittsburgh Steelers coach in January, he was replaced by Mike McCarthy.

Now, could Mike Tomlin replace Mike Vrabel in New England?

It sounds like a long shot, and probably is, but it’s a story that is gaining traction in New England.

Of all places, the US Daily Mail in London published a story claiming that if fallout from Vrabel’s personal relationship with NFL reporter Dianna Russini continues to spiral in a negative direction, the Patriots are preparing in case they need a new coach.

According to the story, Patriots owner Robert Kraft isn’t considering firing Vrabel over the matter … yet. But if more negative details emerge, or if the personal strain of public scrutiny becomes too much for Vrabel and his family to handle, what if they have to fire Vrabel or he quits?

Should that be the case, the Mail (citing a Patriots “insider”) is suggesting that Tomlin is at the top of the list of candidates the Patriots would try to contact.

The paywalled story has been transcribed by USA Today’s “Touchdown Wire.”

“The Krafts are extremely loyal and have no intention of firing Mike, nor do they want to see him quit over all this drama,” an insider said to the US Daily Mail. “But if these upcoming few months go haywire, and if they are put in a situation of no return, either with the team not doing well or the drama of Mike’s family issues taking over and forcing a decision on Mike’s coaching future, the one person that they would seek to replace him would be Mike Tomlin.”

As far-fetched as the story seems, both Boston sports talk radio stations (WEEI and 98.5 The Sports Hub) have been discussing it and don’t seem to be ruling out the scenario.

Keep in mind, on Sunday, Tomlin was just introduced by NBC as a new analyst for “Football Night in America.”

While Tomlin may be looked at as an attractive candidate in a lot of markets, that may not be the case in New England. Patriots fans are certainly used to seeing Tomlin at his worst. He is 4-10 versus the Patriots, including a loss in the 2016 AFC Championship Game.

Vrabel missed Day 3 of the NFL Draft as he was seeking counseling in the wake of the nature of his relationship with Russini coming into question publicly. She has resigned from her job with “The Athletic.”

What does it mean?

McCarthy was on 105.9 The X with TribLive’s Mark Madden on Wednesday. Madden asked McCarthy about the UFA tender placed on quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Monday.

“It’s just really a business transaction that puts us in position to potentially gain a compensatory pick down the road,” McCarthy said. “Frankly, if we didn’t do our administrative duty here, we should be criticized for it. That’s the only intent of this process.”

Steelers owner Art Rooney II made a similar comment on WDVE on Tuesday morning. He added a little more texture Wednesday on the NFL Network’s “The Insiders” show.

Rooney told Judy Battista and Tom Pelissero that the franchise “alerted” Rodgers and his representatives that the tag was going to be applied.

TribLive’s Chris Adamski outlined all of the parameters of the UFA tag here on Wednesday.

Tag! He’s it

George Pickens has signed his franchise tag with the Dallas Cowboys. That news comes from ProFootballTalk.com.

Pickens will make $27.3 million for one season and will become a free agent after 2026. The offseason program for Dallas began Monday, and Pickens wasn’t there. Now that he has signed, he presumably will report soon.

Theoretically, Pickens could be traded now. However, executive vice president Stephen Jones has claimed that the Cowboys have “zero intention” of moving Pickens off the roster. But he also added that the team has no intention of negotiating a future contract in 2026.

Dallas acquired Pickens from the Steelers following the 2025 draft. The former Georgia wide receiver was named to the Pro Bowl with 93 receptions for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns.

 

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Lovin’ Lax

It’s a huge week for lacrosse at Robert Morris.

The school is hosting both the MAC women’s championships and the men’s NEC championships. The Colonials are participating in both events.

The women’s team is the fourth seed and hosts top-seeded UMass at noon Thursday. The winner gets the survivor of Akron and Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m.

Then the men take the field at Joe Walton Stadium. The Colonials are the NEC top seed. They square off against VMI at 5 p.m. The other semifinal features LIU and Cleveland State at 8 p.m. RMU is the defending champion.

Both conference winners get automatic bids to the tournament. The finals take place Saturday. The women’s MAC final is at noon. The men play for the NEC title at 4 p.m.

On Wednesday, the men’s team swept the NEC postseason awards. Freshman Dylan Anderson became the first player to secure conference player of the year, offensive player of the year and rookie of the year in the same season.

Owen Tapper took home NEC defensive player of the year honors. Craig McDonald was named NEC coach of the year for the first time.

Meanwhile, five Robert Morris women made the MAC all-conference teams. Mia Berthoff was placed on the first team.

In basketball news, the Colonials landed Nicholls State transfer Jalik Dunkley. That’s via RobertMorrisNow.com. Dunkley averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. He shot 56% from the floor.

Listen: ESPN lacrosse analyst Paul Carcaterra joined Tim Benz and Mike McBride for this month’s Pittsburgh LaxCast