PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Bill Cowher, the Steelers coach for the last 12 years, has two years left on his current contract, but negotiations to extend it another three years have not yet begun.

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"We have not done anything yet," Dan Rooney said yesterday morning as the annual NFL meetings came to a close.

"We're not saying we're not extending his contract," he said. "I mean, we're going to try to look at the situation, do it in the right way. Hopefully, we're not putting any undue pressure on him."

Part of the explanation, Rooney said, is that he has been unusually busy this year. But he also said the Steelers may decide to wait until after the season rather than give Cowher an extension two years before his contract is scheduled to expire.

Cowher said he preferred not to comment on his contract. Phil de Picciotto, Cowher's agent, said he normally does not comment on negotiations.

Art Rooney II, Dan's son and the team's president, cautioned not to "read anything into the fact we haven't done anything."

"Normally, if we do something, we do it before training camp," Art Rooney said.

But contract extension talks between the Steelers and their coach usually start as early as February.

Dan Rooney would not say why the organization may decide to change the course it has taken with Cowher's contract through all four extensions since his original four-year deal was signed in 1992.

The Steelers were 6-10 last season and have made the playoffs just twice in the past six years. However, since extending Cowher's contract in 2001, the Steelers have made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, including two division titles, one visit to the AFC championship game and an overtime loss in the second round.

Cowher's most recent three-year extension, which pays him more than $3 million annually, came even though the Steelers did not make the playoffs the three previous seasons.

Dan Rooney said he was not dissatisfied with Cowher and regarded him among the better coaches in the league. "I don't think he's in any different position than he was last year, the year before, things like that."

"Obviously, he feels he wants to win," Rooney said. "There again, it's what pressure people put on themselves. I try to alleviate pressure; when things aren't going that good I say let's get it back and do things like this."

Rooney prides himself on having had only two coaches the past 35 years -- Chuck Noll for 23 seasons and Cowher for 12.

"I think too many people pull the plug too quickly on a coach," Rooney said.

Two years after Cowher was hired in 1992, the Steelers extended his contract two more years, through '97. In '96, they extended it another two years through '99. In '98, they extended it three years through 2002. And in '01, they extended it another three years through '05. Cowher's first contract extension in '94 did not become public until the following spring.

Cowher hired an agent for the first time in '98, the late Robert Fraley, who negotiated a $2 million deal for the coach. It was the first seven-figure annual salary for a Steelers' coach and came after reports that the new Cleveland Browns franchise might be interested in Cowher as their first coach.

Talks began on his most recent three-year extension in February 2001 and surprised many because the Steelers had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, two of them with losing records. But that fall, the Steelers compiled the best record in the AFC, 13-3, and advanced to the conference championship, where New England upset them at Heinz Field.

Cowher's team won the AFC North Division in '02 with a 10-5-1 record, beat Cleveland in the playoffs, then lost at Tennessee in overtime the following week.

After starting 2-1 last season, the Steelers finished 6-10, tying their worst record under Cowher.

Only eight head coaches in NFL history have served longer with one team than Cowher. He's fifth among active coaches with 115 regular-season victories, a .602 winning percentage. The Steelers are 7-8 in the playoffs under Cowher. They reached the AFC championship game four times -- all at home -- winning one to reach Super Bowl XXX, where they lost to Dallas.