PITTSBURGH — Larry Foote knew at some point he would take a long look around the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room and wonder who is going to be around next year.

Foote just never expected to have to do a head count so soon. Neither did his teammates.

A promising season, however, was undone by a December swoon. And only 60 minutes against the Cleveland Browns stand between the Steelers (7-8) and an uncertain offseason.

“You know they’re going to start looking at the 30-year-olds,” the 33-year-old linebacker said. “You know they’re going to start thinking about who is part of their plan.”

It’s a sentiment the Browns (5-10) know all too well.

The franchise is in the midst of yet another reboot under new owner Jimmy Haslam and there’s a real chance second-year coach Pat Shurmur could be coaching his last game in Cleveland during in an otherwise meaningless season finale.

The Browns have shown flashes of growth this fall — including a 20-14 win over the Steelers on Nov. 25 — but have been unable to make any real headway in the competitive AFC North. Cleveland is already assured of a last-place finish for the fourth time in the last five seasons and with team president Mike Holmgren already out the door there’s talk Shurmur may soon follow.

Chatter about who will be on the sideline is nothing new in Cleveland, where Pro Bowl tackle Joe Thomas could be playing for his fourth coach in seven seasons next fall.

“There is going to be plenty of speculation on the side of fans and media members and people that are interested,” Thomas said. “It doesn’t affect us. We don’t have any say in what happens, so all we can really focus on is things that we have control over, and that’s how we play against the Steelers on Sunday.”

A victory would give Cleveland its first sweep of its rival since 1988, not an insignificant milestone. Shurmur believes that’s incentive enough to keep his team from focusing on what will happen after the final gun sounds.

“I ask the players not to think of anything beyond Sunday” said Shurmur, who is 9-22 in two seasons. “At least to this point they have done a good job of sticking with me on those types of messages.”