The Steelers are desperate to win, and GM Omar Khan is doing about everything he can to drag them there. This offseason, he has pulled off a series of headline trades, yet balanced present and future needs. While he traded WR George Pickens for future assets, for example, he also made moves for now.
Yesterday, in one of his biggest moves as Steelers GM, the Khan Artist struck again. For S Minkah Fitzpatrick and a fifth-round pick, he acquired DB Jalen Ramsey, TE Jonnu Smith, and a seventh-round pick. Both picks, by the way, are for 2027, so do not impact next year’s draft class.
It all has former Steelers S Ryan Clark signing Khan’s praises. Khan, of course, has been with the organization for decades, even if this is only his third full year as the general manager, specifically. Clark played under him, and surely knows him well. And he knows he isn’t just emulating what previous general manager Kevin Colbert would have done.
“I’ll give Steelers’ General Manager Omar Khan this… he is trying to effing win!”, Clark wrote on X. “I respect dude so much. Waited his turn, watched the groceries get made one way for a long time, & came in with new & fresh ideas. That’s hard to do! I love the aggression from a New Orleans guy!”.
Omar Khan is a New Orleans native and broke in with the Saints before the Steelers hired him in 2001. He has been in the front office since, assuming numerous titles along the way. Once viewed as the numbers guy, he has largely delegated those responsibilities now in the GM chair. Many are quick to credit assistant GM Andy Weidl for personnel moves, but that’s surely short-changing the actual GM.
He earned the nickname the Khan Artist after the Steelers traded WR Chase Claypool for a second-round pick. That was in his first season as GM, and that picked turned into CB Joey Porter Jr. Claypool has hardly caught a pass since then, and is currently not with any team in any league—or country.
Although Omar Khan inherited a Steelers playoff win drought, he knows it is upon him to end it. To that end, he has helped orchestrate a major roster transformation this season. His first pet project was to rebuild the offensive line, which occupied his first two drafts. This year, he began remaking the defensive line.
As it turns out, the Steelers have also radically transformed almost every other part of the roster, too. Under Omar Khan, they have turned the quarterback room over multiple times. Najee Harris, George Pickens, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and others are gone. In are Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, DK Metcalf, Darius Slay, and Aaron Rodgers.
Even if it doesn’t work out, you can’t say they didn’t try. The Steelers are not selling the 2025 season short, even as Khan and company eye the 2026 draft. They are trying to “effing win” now, as Clark said. But they are also trying to win for the future, at the same time.
