So far this offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan seems to be getting universal praise for the moves he’s made reshaping the Steelers’ roster.
From signing veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Patrick Queen and safety DeShon Elliott, to trading wide receiver Diontae Johnson and quarterback Kenny Pickett to the Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles respectively, Khan has made waves. Add that then seemingly pulled off a heist in the Justin Fields trade with the Chicago Bears for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and it appears that Khan is doing what his nickname invokes: being a Khan Artist.
Though the Steelers still have plenty of holes on the roster, including at wide receiver, center, offensive tackle and defensive line, it’s hard to not be thrilled with what Khan has done just one full week into the new league year. He’s gotten rid of guys who seemingly didn’t want to be Steelers and might have been problems behind closed doors, and he’s added veteran leadership while taking swings on high-pedigree guys.
For former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, what Khan has done this offseason has been nothing short of remarkable.
During an appearance on the “Bleav In Steelers” podcast last week in which Taylor and co-host Mark Bergin had on Post-Gazette Steelers’ reporter Brian Batko, Taylor waxed poetic about the job Khan has done so far this offseason.
“O on the mission. I work with O, we call Omar the Khan Artist. O does it again, but O’s been doing in my mind just a lot of untraditional things that a Pittsburgh Steelers usually don’t see, which is a good thing,” Taylor said, according to video via Bergin’s YouTube page. “O is evolving. O is aggressive. O understands, O wants to win Lombardis as a GM and you can tell he’s making the moves. O has something, he has a plan and he’s sticking to his plan. And right now his plan has been working.
“And that’s getting guys who you possibly couldn’t get, ’cause you only got seven to eight draft picks, but getting guys that are Steelers, and Queen is a Steeler…Acquiring Donte [Jackson] the cornerback, is a Steeler. So just looking at it like that, Omar and Coach T[omlin], usually between head coaches and GMs, the best teams see eye to eye. They’re on the same page and O and Coach T, they’re on the same page when it comes down to guys that they want in the locker room and who is a Steeler, who’s not a Steeler.
So far, that appears to be the case with the moves Khan and the Steelers have made.
Famously — or infamously depending on which way you’re looking at it — Tomlin allegedly said to Queen during a game in his rookie year with the Ravens that he wasn’t a Raven and wasn’t supposed to be over there. That irked Queen and stuck with him, which he brought up last year about matchups with the Steelers being personal. But then, when it came down to it, he wanted to play for Tomlin and made the jump in the AFC North rivalry to the Black and Gold.
At heart, maybe he is a Steeler.
So far in the offseason, the Steelers have been very aggressive — yet calculated — under Khan. That might be his calling card at this point. He’s aggressive in trying to plug holes and acquire talented players, all while manipulating the cap and getting the best deals possible that work for the Steelers. That was the case in the Queen signing, getting him well below market projections,
Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that this is how Khan is operating early in his tenure as GM, especially after sitting and learning for more than 20 years under former Steelers GM Kevin Colbert. After seeing the Steelers largely build through the draft, making sure they kept their own developed players and rarely wading into the waters of free agency, Khan has adjusted to the times and is being aggressive, not only in free agency but through trades, too.
“O’s been conning for the past two years. He’s been conning. But I tell O all the time, ‘O, you been waiting for this moment all your life. You sat down there 20 years to get this opportunity to be a GM,'” Taylor said of Khan. “…all he can talk about is the Steeler legends in the 70s when he was the contract guy for Pittsburgh in the early 2000s, and the way that locker room was. And what he thinks needs to be in that locker room, you can tell by the kind of moves he’s making. He’s not waiting three and four years.
“O is aggressive, but O is very calculated, very calculated. So he keeps everything to himself. That’s what I love about O.”
The Steelers certainly are changing things around in a major way, both on the field from a style standpoint and in within the locker room overall based on the moves they’ve made.
On paper, there are still some questions, but it’s clear that the Steelers are aiming to get back to the ways of the past — winning at a high level with guys who want to be Steelers — all while doing it in a different way from a player acquisition standpoint.
