A review of Omar Khan's first year as the Steelers GM

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next

Final thoughts on Khan’s first season with Steelers

I can’t help but come away impressed with Khan’s first year as Steelers GM. No, the changes from Colbert to himself weren’t groundbreaking, but I have seen more positives than negatives. The main thing that I was surprised by, is that Khan seems more aggressive than Colbert was at the end of his tenure.

Colbert had a very standard operating procedure. Players he added were predictable and safe, as they were names this team had liked in the past. Draft picks weren’t as valuable, as the team was more interested in acquiring players than they were in adding extra draft picks, and trading back was never an option.

Khan has been more focused on adding as much cheap talent as possible. While all of those players won’t make the roster, they will make the battle more competitive and allow you to trade away players you no longer need. Add in the early extensions and this team wants to be focused on football when they can be, not negotiations.

My main complaint with Khan was his undrafted free agency procedure. This was something that desperately needed a facelift, but he kept the same process that Colbert did. It resulted as expected, with another lackluster undrafted rookie class.

Next. 5 hidden gems on the Steelers roster who will surprise in 2023. 5 hidden gems on the Steelers roster who will surprise in 2023. dark

While it is far too early to draw any serious conclusions, Khan has done a good job of running this team as a modern franchise. He is adding players where he can for cheap, as some more aggression in his style, and is willing to make more moves than his predecessor did. All in all, it is hard to dislike what we have seen from Khan so far in his GM career.