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: What do you want to hear from Omar Khan as he prepares to helm his first draft?
The NFL opens its 2023 Scouting Combine proceedings today, with day one consisting largely of press conferences. Steelers general manager Omar Khan is among those set to speak, inheriting the job from his predecessor, Kevin Colbert, long a fixture at the event.
This will be Khan’s first time holding a press conference as general manager to actually speak about the job, rather than simply introducing himself into the role. It’s the first time he’s gone through an annual scouting process, and the first time he’ll be helming the draft.
In other words, it’s also the first time that we have a chance to get a glimpse of where he might be heading. What can we expect in terms of how many contracts might be terminated, for example, and how active they might be in free agency—perhaps even where?
And the topic of the draft goes without saying. After all, it’s a pre-draft event, and the Steelers have three picks in the top 50 this year. Perhaps we might at least hear where the front office sees the strengths of this particular class, something Colbert would typically discuss.
In spite of his reputation as a numbers man, Khan has been and will continue to be on the road. He was the only general manager in the NFL present for the HBCU event earlier this month. But he’s obviously not working alone, alongside new assistant general manager Andy Weidl, head coach Mike Tomlin, and on and on down the list. It’s the general manager’s job at this time of year, however, to be the face of the operations.
