With the regular season almost here, I wanted to take some time to recap Omar Khans's first full year as the Steelers GM. While I can’t give him all the credit for how the team performed a year ago, he has been instrumental in making moves to better the roster of this team.
It has been a surprising shift from the ways of old. I had become accustomed to the way that Kevin Colbert ran things. With Khan being an in-house option, the expectation was for a lot of the same things to go on. While subtle differences were likely, I expected the old way to still be the way for this roster.
Colbert had developed a consistent routine of how he built the roster. From cheaper, less impactful free agents, obvious draft selections, and mid-round trades to add players, there was a clear process. While the process would undoubtedly change, I expected a lot of the same from Khan.
What I will be looking at for the Steelers and Khan
The first thing I want to do is a general recap of the moves that he made. It’ll start with any moves from when he was officially announced as the GM until the final cuts from this season. Important to note, that I won’t be looking at any of the free agency and the draft moves from a year ago, as Colbert was still technically in charge.
After we compile all of the moves, I want to take a 1000-foot view of the best and worst trends I have seen. While only one year makes it hard to judge anything, these are just the early trends we have seen with Khan in charge. With all of that said, here is a look back at Khan’s first season as Steelers GM.
Khans Steelers moves from last summer
Khan was officially named the GM of the Steelers at the end of May. The draft and brunt of free agency moves had already passed, but that didn’t mean that it was an uneventful time for Pittsburgh.
At the beginning of June, Stephon Tuitt announced that he was retiring from the league. This came as a shock, as it was always a possibility that Tuitt was done, he hadn’t given any leaning one way or another. With it so late in the offseason, it seemed more likely that Tuitt would be coming back.
This left a huge hole on the roster. While Chris Wormley and third-round pick DeMarvin Leal were options, none of them could adequately replace Tuitt. Khan was quick to pick up free-agent lineman Larry Ogunjobi on an unusual deal. Usually, the Steelers hand out minimum deals on one-year contracts, but Ogunjobi proved to be the exception.
The deal was for 8 million dollars, something this team could afford, but a rare change of structure. That said, this move did seem like one of desperation, as the defense had a huge hole on the line suddenly. It was a necessary cost to keep this team competitive.
Another new structure was extensions. Colbert was keen on waiting until the very end of training camp to award new deals. As well, those contracts rarely had any guaranteed money in them outside of the signing bonus.
Minkah Fitzpatrick was the first to fall, signing a mega deal that he has easily earned. The main benefit of getting this deal out of the way early is that the threat of a hold-in is now gone. Fitzpatrick would report to camp like everyone else and begin practicing as opposed to missing most of camp in hopes of not getting injured.
Two other Steelers got new deals in camp, and neither came down to the wire. Chris Boswell inked a fair market deal while Diontae Johnson landed a controversial extension. That said, this was easily the better worked of the two deals considering the fact that receiver contracts were exploding.
Johnson's deal was for the short term, only adding two years to his deal, and it was well below market value for a top receiver. I had thought that Johnson’s new money would be in the 22-23 million a year deal considering what other comparable receivers got. He only got an average of around 18.4 million though, a steal considering what other top guys were getting.
Towards the end of summer, Khan constructed his first-ever roster. While this included the usual mandated cuts. He also made two trades. He sent a 2025 7th for Jesse Davis and swapped 6th and 7th-round picks in 2023 for Malik Reed. I liked both moves on paper, as it added needed depth, but neither player proved to be worth the asking price. And that was that. Pittsburgh entered the season under a new regime with hopes of remaining competitive.
How did Khan fair in his first Steelers season?
While the Steelers had a turbulent first season under Khan, I will not base the results on him alone. He was in charge of this roster after the drafting, meaning almost every player that was on the team was there because of Colbert first. I can’t fault a player's success or failure on Khan because of that.
What I will say is that I think Khan worked the practice squad well. While recent changes have allowed the squad to be filled with more valuable players, it is still at its core a “break glass in case of emergency” option or a developmental unit. Khan seemed to favor the former as much as the latter.
Names like Andrew Adams, Ryan Anderson, Quincy Williams, and Josh Jackson were all added to the practice squad early, and some of those players were forced into action. That said, each of those names had significant NFL experience, which made them a more viable injury replacement.
While I won’t lump the entire 9-8 record onto Khan, I will knock him for the play of his traded-for players. Davis barely played for the Steelers, and while the compensation wasn’t high, the trade certainly doesn’t look great in hindsight. The Reed deal was even worse, as he was forced into action due to injuries and struggled. He was eventually benched, making Colbert’s trades 0-2.
Those weren’t the only trades he made though. As the deadline approached, he traded a conditional pick for William Jackson. Pittsburgh was thin at cornerback, so the trade made sense, as the Steelers loved him when he was a prospect a few seasons ago. Ultimately, Jackson reinjured himself, so the picks were no longer dealt and the move was fruitless.
That didn’t stop Khan from making arguably his biggest move of the year though. Disgruntled and struggling receiver Chase Claypool was traded to the Bears for their second-round pick. It was shocking compensation at the time, and with the Bears losing out the rest of the season, this ultimately turned into the 32nd pick in the draft.
This was really the start of Khan’s main focus on the roster. While it wouldn’t be completely uncovered until the offseason, there was a clear focus on trimming the fat, trading what you had in excess, and adding depth everywhere.
Khan’s first offseason in charge
The 9-8 record was a mildly disappointing one, as Pittsburgh once again missed the playoffs although they limped to a respectable record. There were a lot of holes that needed to be filled on this roster though heading into the offseason.
I was skeptical of Khan at first, as he stood pat and let Cameron Sutton walk to the Lions. In return, he added Patrick Peterson to a deal. Despite the lower price tag, I would have rather kept Sutton on his deal. His versatility and fit were a big help for this team, and while Peterson may try to fill that role, I’m not hopeful.
The moves came in quickly during the first few weeks. Back on slightly more expensive deals than I would have liked were Ogunjobi and Damontae Kazee. The other notable names added were Nate Herbig, Isaac Seumalo, Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts, and Keanu Neal. No deal broke the bank.
Where Khan really seemed to shine was his focus on constant depth-building. He signed a multitude of names to near-minimum contracts. While this was also a practice during the Colbert tenure, Khan seemed more willing to keep adding to positions even if those players weren’t likely to make the roster. Names like Le’Raven Clark and Tanner Muse stick out in this case.
What this does is provide a lot of flexibility for the team. Cheap depth adds competition which naturally brings the best out of all players. While quite a few of those players missing the roster could impact a player's willingness to sign in the future, I don’t foresee it being a huge deal.
The trades didn’t stop either, as the Steelers moved back in the seventh round to acquire veteran receiver Allen Robinson. While I don’t anticipate Robinson returning to form this year, he provides the big-slot role this team likes and a good veteran presence in the locker room.
Khan nailed his first draft for the Steelers
Onto what has earned Khan the most recognition through his first season: the draft process. While the pre-draft process remained mostly the same, Khan did an excellent job of acquiring talent wherever he could. While I will sing his praises, it is also important to note that this draft fell about as perfectly as it could for the new GM.
It started in the first round, as the Steelers made a savvy trade-up and gave up their fourth-round pick for Broderick Jones. The compensation was more than fair, and it ensured the team got the last potentially elite tackle in the class. It was well worth the move up.
The rest of the draft lined up perfectly. Joey Porter Jr., a legitimate contender for the pick in the first round, was drafted with the Claypool pick. Pittsburgh added more beef to their trenches with the Keeanu Benton pick in the later portion of the second round.
Lacking day three picks, the Steelers moved back a few spots in the third round to re-acquire a fourth-round pick. This was a surprise, as the team rarely traded back under Colbert. It was also a fruitful move, as the team acquired Nick Herbig in the fourth as well as Darnell Washington in the move back. Add in Corey Trice and Spencer Anderson and you have a well-rounded draft class.
My biggest complaint was that the undrafted free agent process was a lackluster one. It was the same bland procedure, not promising a lot of money and in turn, getting lackluster prospects. This was evident, as none of the undrafted rookies made the team, and two seemingly retired from the league instead of even attempting to make the team. All in all, though, it was a great draft season for the Steelers.
Khans moves for the Steelers this summer
I feel like Khan really shined this past summer and has come into his own. He remained busy after the draft, and his focus on constant depth was apparent. He shored up the quarterback room in short order, extending Mitch Trubisky and resigning Mason Rudolph. This gives the team one of the deeper quarterback rooms in the league.
The depth kept on coming. Markus Golden, Nick Kwiatoski, and Kwon Alexander all were added on minimum contracts and helped fill out their rooms. At this point in the offseason, these were bigger names, and while Kwiatoski didn’t make the team, this was all to give the defense options ahead of the season.
The focus on early extensions remained as well. While Alex Highsmith seemingly wasn’t holding in as other top names had done before, the Steelers still rewarded him with a new deal before training camp. This gave a deserving player his new deal and didn’t detract from practices during camp.
With the summer winding down, Khan made some more savvy trades, flipping Kevin Dotson for a pair of draft pick swaps and Kendrick Green for a future sixth-round pick. The Green trade was a shock, as I didn’t expect him to have any value considering his poor play and lack of chances to make this team. A future sixth is incredible.
As for Dotson, the writing was also on the wall. While a starter the past two seasons, he had firmly been replaced this season. He had little desire to stay here, so the advantage was on any team that tried to trade for him. They had the leverage, as the Steelers clearly didn’t. They got fair value for a player that they weren’t going to keep.
Add in the Desmond King addition after cuts and you had a strong summer showing from Khan. He improved this depth chart regularly, traded away players who weren’t going to have a role, and added some talent late in the process for cheap.
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.
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.