The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an eventful free-agency period over the past few days. With fairly limited cap space, many didn’t expect the Steelers to be one of the biggest movers in the league, but they have been.
Many of the moves have received positive fan reactions, with the exception of the Diontae Johnson trade and some Russell Wilson non-believers.
However, the reviews for Omar Kahn have been generally positive thus far. He’s shown an ability to understand the numbers and make something of what was seemingly going to be a boring offseason.
Garrett Podell of CBS Sports seems to agree with the generally positive sentiment behind the Steelers’ offseason moves and gave them a solid grade of “B” so far.
“The Steelers needed to find competition for Kenny Pickett, the quarterback they selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.” Podell wrote. “The way he plays football is the way Brock Purdy’s haters think he plays football: like a conservative game manager. Now, Pittsburgh has Russell Wilson to challenge him. Sure, there’s a chance Wilson struggles after an uneven two years with the Broncos, but it’s a low-risk, high-reward proposition. If he flames out, the Steelers can easily move off of him without any noticeable financial consequences. The Steelers likely lost the trade that saw them part ways with Diontae Johnson and acquire Donte Jackson.”
There’s a long way to go this offseason, but these moves seem to have gotten the team off to a solid start. Podell doesn’t even mention the acquisition of LB Patrick Queen, one very few saw coming and who could provide a big impact on defense in the black and gold next season.
The reality of this offseason, at least to me was that Pittsburgh had to be aggressive. They had no other choice. You can’t go into 2024 with the same team, wasting another year of T.J. Watt’s prime as well as seeing Cameron Heyward getting older and maybe hanging them up after the season. There needed to be a sense of urgency, and that’s all I wanted. Guys like Watt and Heyward are special, and you need to take advantage of them while you have them.
I believe Kahn’s done this. Does Russell Wilson make them Super Bowl contenders? Probably not. But he gives them a fighting chance in any individual game they are in, which was more than Kenny Pickett can say, even factoring in some development from the former Pittsburgh Panther. The splashes of free agency may be over, but Kahn has made a statement and gives Steelers fans hope for 2024 and beyond.
