The goal of an NFL general manager is to construct a roster of players via free agency, trades, waivers, and the NFL draft to assemble enough talent that can compete with the rest of the teams in the league in pursuit of Super Bowls.
For every NFL roster, there are often specific weak points as certain positions where the team may have borderline starting talent or a bunch of options that just don’t move the needle. It can be nearly impossible to have zero weaknesses on a roster given player salaries and free agency, but teams must do the best they can to build up those weaknesses, so they aren’t exposed during the season.
Looking back, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had several needs on the roster that were failed to be properly addressed under the direction of former GM Kevin Colbert. After LB Ryan Shazier got hurt in 2017, Pittsburgh didn’t do much to address the need at inside linebacker, signing LB Jon Bostic to play alongside LB Vince Williams. In 2021 after C Maurkice Pouncey retired, Pittsburgh drafted IOL Kendrick Green in the third round to be their de-facto Day 1 starting center despite only playing four games there during his college career.
Colbert was often known for taking the bargain bin route with his free agent classes, signing cheap veterans to fill a role for a season at glaring positions of need. He did have to work around a franchise quarterback’s salary for a majority of his tenure as GM, but near the end of his time in Pittsburgh, he wasn’t the most successful at properly addressing areas of weakness.
The results still need to be seen on the football field, but GM Omar Khan has taken a far more aggressive approach than his predecessor in terms of addressing Pittsburgh’s weak points on the roster. They had one of the wildest offeseasons in team history, signing a slew of free agents, trading for WR Allen Robinson II, and moved up and down the 2023 NFL Draft to secure a strong draft class. Even after the draft, Khan wasn’t done as he signed EDGE Markus Golden to strengthen the depth at outside linebacker and just recently signed LB Kwon Alexander to further bolster the inside linebacker room room that received a complete makeover this offseason.
Khan and the front office aren’t leaving anything up to chance this season. They are turning over every stone trying to improve this roster and work on their weak points. They have brought in experienced veterans at nearly every position of need on the roster, having several options who have all produced in this league. We will see if all of that effort in beefing up the roster yields positive results this season, but Khan has done a good job at giving the 2023 roster the chance to be its best self heading into the season opener.
