The Chicago Bears have reportedly requested an interview with Pittsburgh Steelers’ VP of Football & Business Administration Omar Khan, according to this tweet from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Khan, better known as the Steelers’ “cap guy,” has interviewed for several GM jobs over the years. He was a hot name last year, interviewing for the Houston and Carolina jobs, and reportedly nearly became the GM of the Texans. The two sides were working on contract information when Houston went out of left field to choose New England’s Nick Caserio at the last minute.
Losing Khan would be a blow to the Steelers’ front office. The team wouldn’t appear to have a great internal replacement. Samir Suleiman was once viewed as Khan’s potential successor, but the Carolina Panthers, under former Steelers’ owner David Tepper, hired Suleiman in 2020. Pittsburgh did hire a replacement, Cole Marcoux, though he’s a pretty fresh face to step into a role as large as Khan’s.
Khan has been with the Steelers for nearly all of the Kevin Colbert era, hired in 2001. He is believed to be one of the top two internal candidates to replace Colbert alongside Pro Scouting Coordinator Brandon Hunt. On Sunday, NFL Network reported Colbert plans to retire after the 2022 NFL Draft, though that report was disputed by local media later in the day.
If Colbert truly is retiring and Khan is interviewing for other GM jobs, that may indicate he’s not viewed as the successor. It may be Hunt who is next in line to replace Colbert. Should Khan be hired be hired as GM of another team, Pittsburgh would receive a third round compensatory pick in the 2022 and 2023 NFL Drafts as part of a recent NFL resolution for minority candidates hired to head coach or executive front office roles.
