From one former NFL GM to a current one, Thomas Dimitroff believes the Pittsburgh Steelers are in good hands with their new regime of GM Omar Khan and assistant Andy Weidl. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, Dimitroff gave an overview of the Steelers’ front office setup in the post-Kevin Colbert era.
“Andy Weidl is very, very well respected in this league, and he can tee up Omar, who’s got a background in finance, right? Omar, I’m glad he finally got his opportunity. It’s been a long time for him.”
Khan has been on GM radars for years. Dating back to the early 2010s, he was a finalist for the Seattle Seahawks’ job but lost out to John Schneider. Other teams nearly pulled him away from Pittsburgh. He was nearly hired by the Houston Texans two years ago before Jack Easterby pivoted at the last second and hired Patriots’ buddy Nick Caserio. And for years, Bill Cowher’s rumored return to the game would involve him plucking Khan and naming him GM of whatever team Cowher would come back with.
But Khan was never made the guy until Colbert stepped down after last year’s draft. Viewed as *just* a cap guy, Dimitroff noted he’s far from the only GM in football with a non-scouting background.
“[New Orelans’] Mickey Loomis, he came through a completely financial side. He learned on the football side, got the right people around him and built some really good stuff down in New Orleans. And then [Philadelphia’s] Howie Roseman, he’s a legal guy.”
One of the people Roseman put around him was Weidl, who set the draft board the last three years for the Eagles. A Pittsburgh native, Weidl was hired to work alongside Khan and bring a strong football and scouting background, though it’s worth noting Khan’s first NFL jobs were on the scouting and coaching side.
It’s a new configuration in Pittsburgh, the first major front office turnover in 20 years, and this will be Khan’s first full offseason as Steelers’ GM. He’ll have to rely on the people around him but Dimitroff believes Khan is more than capable of leading and delegating.
“If you need to turn to your stud that has set the board up, you need to do that. And I think Omar’s gonna be smart enough to do that.”
In this case, that “stud” would be Weidl.
Pittsburgh will have several free agent decisions to make, including a new deal for CB Cam Sutton along with cap-savings decisions on QB Mitch Trubisky and Myles Jack. The draft process could also take the team in a slightly different direction and we’ll keep an eye on what philosophical tweaks and shifts the team makes post-Colbert.
