Steelers hire in-house with new general manager Omar Khan

The Pittsburgh Steelers had their general manager under their nose all along. Here’s what long-time member Omar Khan will offer the team. 

After going year-to-year over the past few seasons, Kevin Colbert made it clear that 2022 would be his last year as the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager. Throughout the process, I predicted that the Rooney’s would go with an in-house hire (something they tend to do in front office positions), but I incorrectly predicted who it would be.

My vote from the start was Brandon Hunt. As the Pro Scouting Coordinator, Hunt was on the road with Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert often throughout the pre-draft process. After completing the second round of interviews, I thought Hunt would have been the frontrunner for the position thanks to his experience working under Colbert’s wings during the NFL Draft.

However, the Steelers ultimately settled for a different in-house hire: Vice President of Football and Business Administrations, Omar Khan.

At first, I wasn’t too keen on this signing. I was really hoping that the Pittsburgh Steelers would have hired a general manager whose calling card was evaluating talent and who had an impressive track record in the NFL Draft. This isn’t Khan.

Khan is known for handling the business side of things — primarily player contracts. Admittedly, he’s an expert at this, and the salary cap seems to be a myth with the way he has restricted deals. Obviously, not all of them have been good in recent years and some have even put the team in a bind.

Did Steelers make the right move?

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when Omar Khan was named as the Steelers GM. I think Khan is one of the best in the league at what he does, but I personally value talent evaluation over contract language and knew that handling the NFL Draft wasn’t Khan’s forte.

Fotrutnely, the Steelers made a move that I could really get behind. As Pittsburgh’s media was announcing that Khan would be their next general manager, Aditi Kinkhabwala quickly chimed in on Twitter to announce that Andy Weidl was slated to be named as the Steelers’ assistant general manager.

This is a move that had me excited right away. Unlike Khan, Weidl was known for his talent evaluation. Weidl was the Vice President of Player Personnel for the Philidelphia Eagles from 2018 to 2021.

During this time, Weidl was responsible for drafting players like Dallas Goedert, Miles Sanders, Jalen Hurts, DeVonte Smith, and Landon Dickerson. This past April, Weidl had a strong draft on paper — landing Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, and Nakobe Dean in the first three rounds of the 2022 NFL Draft.

The combination of the Khan and Weidl singings should have Steelers fans excited. Khan will likely continue to handle the business side of things while Weidl, the assistant GM, will specialize in scouting and player personnel.

These two collectively have some massive shoes to fill after the departure of the legendary Kevin Colbert. I like each of their skill sets. Let’s hope the next twenty years can be as successful as the last two decades for Pittsburgh.