The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answering, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: How will the influence of Andy Weidl change the Steelers’ approach to the offseason?
There’s a new sheriff in town for the first time this millennium. But one can’t help but wonder if it’s not his deputy who has the more profound impact on how things change this offseason. While longtime front office executive Omar Khan has succeeded Kevin Colbert as the Steelers’ second-ever general manager, Andy Weidl comes in with the newly-created title of assistant general manager.
And he also comes in with a reputation of being a tape and scouting guy. It was never fair to pigeonhole Khan as just a cap guy, but Weidl has extensive experience working this territory, and that’s why they brought him in. It’s already been acknowledged that he will be assembling the Steelers’ draft board, which he also did in Philadelphia for the general manager there everyone seems to love, Howie Roseman.
Khan was out on the road last year on occasion with Mike Tomlin and Colbert on their last hurrah together. Surely he will be there on a more regular basis in this cycle now as the general manager. But I would imagine that Weidl is going to have a big boots-on-the-ground presence as well.
Aside from his own expertise, Weidl will also affect the process by allowing the Steelers to divvy up responsibilities. While one is off doing something, the other can stay at home and conduct business, whether it’s meeting with a free agent or some other matter.
The fact of the matter is that not only is all of this new to us, it’s also new to them. Khan has never been a general manager before. Weidl has never been an assistant general manager. The organization has never had multiple people sharing these responsibilities before. In a way, we’re all going to be finding out together just how this alters the way that they do business.
