Omar Khan has been on record stating that being an NFL general manager has always been a dream of his, and cites qualities such as leadership, communication skills, and listening. Clearly those are qualities that he is looking for as he assembles a staff underneath him, and his main counterpart will be none other than Andy Weidl, the former VP of Player Personnel for the Philadelphia Eagles, and former scout for the Steelers.
Weidl also has hometown ties, as he was a star football player at Mt. Lebanon High School. As we witnessed in the draft with the selection of Kenny Pickett, these things seem to matter, especially when the big wigs in the front office have a behind-the-scenes look at how you conduct your business.
“So, I’ve known Andy for over 20 years,” Khan said earlier this morning at his introductory press conference, via the team’s YouTube channel. “He’s a strong evaluator. He’s a very loyal person, I think he’s a Steelers-type of person.”
Weidl has a very impressive resume in his own right, including being a scout for former Ravens’ GM great, Ozzie Newsome, which obviously won a Super Bowl in 2012. He then brought that same knowledge to Philadelphia, where he took on an enhanced role and obviously brought the franchise their first-ever Super Bowl title in 2018.
Also, consider that Weidl himself was a finalist for the vacant GM role, and had two interviews, so he was definitely in serious consideration to be the top dog at the spot.
Khan is known in many league circles as a “cap” guy, and that talent was put on display in many recent seasons, as the team looked to maximize every ounce of talent an aging Ben Roethlisberger had left by kicking the proverbial can down the road and maneuvering some sticky cap situations. It’s clear that Khan highly values having Weidl as his top lieutenant, and the pairing of the two should form a great tandem, as it combines Khan’s cap wizardry with Weidl’s keen eye for spotting talent. Khan continued to gush at his presser about what he thinks Weidl will bring to the table as his assistant.
“When we had meetings and discussed how I wanted structure this, I just felt like Andy was a valuable piece, would be a valuable piece to me. And just very fortunate that we were able to work things out and get him over here.”
