The Pittsburgh Steelers had a busy offseason. They signed Darius Slay and Aaron Rodgers, traded for DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, and traded away Minkah Fitzpatrick and George Pickens. Some moves were praised, some, particularly the wait for Rodgers to sign, were criticized. But Omar Khan has respect from his peers, as a recent poll by The Athletic ranked the Steelers’ front office as the 12th-best in the league.
The Steelers earned one second-place vote and one fourth-place vote, putting them at No. 12, ahead of the Denver Broncos but one spot below the Houston Texans. To no one’s surprise, the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, led by Howie Roseman, finished on top of the poll, followed by the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs to round out the top five. All five teams are consistent contenders who have recently made deep runs in the postseason.
It’ll be interesting to see where Khan and the Steelers land on this list in a few seasons. So far, Khan hasn’t committed to finding the team’s quarterback of the future. Kevin Colbert drafted Kenny Pickett before Khan took over, but Khan was the one who committed to end the Pickett experiment, signing Russell Wilson ahead of last season. The Steelers again went the veteran quarterback route with Rodgers this offseason.
Really, the Steelers went the veteran everything route, adding players with Super Bowl experience in Slay and Ramsey to bolster the secondary. Metcalf came in as the new WR1, and the Steelers also added complementary pieces like Brandin Echols and Juan Thornhill.
Khan is trying to do what it takes to get the Steelers over the hump to win a playoff game, but eventually, the team needs to figure out its quarterback future. If he’s able to hit on that, then he could easily rise in the rankings. Roseman’s gamble on Jalen Hurts is a big reason why he’s No. 1 on the list. The same goes for the Ravens with Lamar Jackson and the Bills with Josh Allen.
But if Khan misses, the Steelers are going to struggle, and he won’t be looked at with as much reverence from around the league. He’s shown the willingness to be aggressive, which can be a good trait for a GM. The Steelers have made the postseason every season except his first running the team, when Colbert was still involved in the offseason. If the team can build upon their success, Khan’s reputation will continue to grow.
