Omar Khan’s plan for the Steelers now, and future, is nothing short of genius
The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 season ended in a thud, and following the season fans demanded change.
Change in the coaching staff.
Change in the roster.
Change in the process of roster development.
Any and all change was welcome with the fans of the Steelers.
In the early phases of the offseason the change was minimal, and we’re talking about just two coaching changes on the defensive side of the football. The changes which were made fell short from the expectations of the fan base, but the true change was yet to happen.
It was at the beginning of the new league year in March when the Steelers front office, captained by Omar Khan, decided to concoct a plan to help the Steelers not just win now, but also prepare for the future.
The plan started with it being made public the team was willing to let the vast majority of their free agents walk in an attempt to collect as many compensatory draft picks as possible. At the time, fans thought this was just a ploy to garner draft picks to trade up in the expected quarterback rich 2026 NFL Draft.
For most, including me, this was thought to be the extent of the plan. As for the 2025 season, the team will put the best product possible on the field to see what they can do. I said it on multiple podcasts and articles how I felt the team was calling the 2025 season a “bridge year”. In other words, they were going to try their best this year, but the true focus would be in 2026 when they decide to draft a quarterback.
As the offseason continued to drag on, there were new elements of the plan which started to come to light. The more we learned, the more genius the plan was that Khan and company put together. This plan went far beyond garnering compensatory picks, but it gave the Steelers the freedom to do something everyone in the league thought was impossible…
Win now, yet still prepare the organization for long term success.
The Steelers wouldn’t be able to execute said plan without a viable option at quarterback, and, if we’re being honest, Mason Rudolph was never that guy. Once the team got word Aaron Rodgers would be joining the team, likely well before it was made public, they started to put the wheels in motion on the second half of the plan.
The question which needed answered at this juncture was, “How can we improve the 2025 roster to make it the best it can be?”
It was answering this question which resulted in the team cutting ties with Minkah Fitzpatrick, and acquiring Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith via trade.
Fitzpatrick wasn’t providing the splash plays anymore, and a lot of that was by defensive design, but he also was going to count heavily towards the cap in 2026. There are reports the Steelers were not interested in bringing Fitzpatrick back after 2025, and getting players, not just a compensatory pick, in return was intriguing enough to make a deal. Needless to say, the Steelers found it best to go with versatility over history, and that has made the trade make sense. As for the versatility aspect, more on that to come in a follow-up article.
Recently on a live podcast, we had a viewer comment how the following people were “washed”:
- WR Robert Woods
- CB Jalen Ramsey
- QB Aaron Rodgers
- CB Darius Slay
This commenter might be right, but what he’s not realizing is when it comes to the aforementioned players the focus is only on 2025. Outside of Ramsey, all those players are on one-year contracts and will be off the books in 2026. In fact, do a simple google search and you’ll see the crazy amount of salary cap space the team is projected to have next offseason. Also, anyone else notice how the team hasn’t touched their 2026 NFL Draft assets yet? They are still projected to have up to 12 draft picks next season.
So, let’s recap Khan’s genius plan.
- Leverage your offseason to accrue as many compensatory picks as possible.
- Plan on being aggressive in the draft, so hold onto your assets by all means necessary.
- Sign players to a lot of one-year deals so they are off the books next season, giving you a lot of cap space to maneuver through free agency and contract space.
- Make moves, although sometimes shrewd, to help improve the current roster and give players a shot at winning a Super Bowl.
This didn’t happen by chance. Instead, this has been the plan all along, and it is genius. But that doesn’t mean it will work. The Steelers have executed the plan to near perfection thus far, but if they swing-and-miss on the quarterback in next year’s draft it will all be for nothing. In the meantime, I find myself in awe of the plan which was created for this team. It might just work out, and if it does, might set a new standard for NFL teams who are trying to win now, yet still plan for the future.
Consider this plan the opposite of the “F— those picks” plan set forth for the Los Angeles Rams when they traded almost all their assets for Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller.
Let’s see if the plan works, because I know I’ll be intrigued to find out along with everyone else this season.
What’s crazy is there’s a world where the Steelers are trotting out Pickens, Pickett, and Najee still. Idk how many gm’s would be willing to move on so soon from a first round qb, or move so aggressively from a WR as talented as Pickens, or move on from a RB at such a cheap price who was very reliable in Najee. It’s a totally different group out there, which is much needed. I truly like the direction this team is headed. I’m still not as high on 2025 as most, but still firmly believe whoever is qb in 2026 will be coming to a strong team
A facet of this plan which I didn’t dive into was the organization banking on rookie QB contracts for the next 5-6 years. It will allow them to have inflated contracts at other positions. Some have called Khan nothing more than a “numbers guy”, but in the modern day NFL you can maneuver yourself well with smart “numbers” moves.
Khan is a strategist and a deal maker. He’s less of a scout than Colbert was but he has Andy Weidl for that, and his strategic planning is way better.
THAT is the winning comment to me. Khan now has the freedom to move money and manage things the way he sees is best for long term future. They bring in Weidl, still not sure how they made that happen, and he handles the roster building. On paper it’s a win-win.
The GM’s role on a football team is many-faceted – he’s got to be a talent evaluator, contract negotiator, deal maker, roster strategist, money-baller, quant, etc. With Khan, you’ve seen all of those things that are not talent evaluator (which is what Colbert specialized in).
Talent evaluation is also what Weidl specializes in, and is in fact widely recognized for it. So why hasn’t Weidl been offered a GM’s job yet? I suspect it’s because he’s not very good at all those other things that a GM has to do, something we don’t see out here with him.
Weidl also may just not be interested in doing anything other than evaluating talent, like Bill Nunn or Dick Haley.
I’m fine with Weidl only being good at that one aspect. Especially if he and Omar can continue to work magic together.
I think Weidl wanted to come back home (he’s from Mt. Lebanon). Weidl worked in Pgh with Bill Nunn, before moving on to the Ravens and Eagles, and Pgh is lucky to have him back.
Change is such a funny thing. Fans clamoring for change I guess never look at the facts. Almost the whole coaching staff has been turned over in the last few years. Danny Smith is the senior member of the staff. The only hirings and firings the fans pay attention to are HC, OC and DC.
Omar and company have continued to churn the roster especially on the depth side of things. This is something I think he has done particularly well. Kahn got a roster that was really out of whack. They essentially lost an entire Oline in the same season. The Oline that started against Cleveland in the 2020 season (Villanueva, Feiler, Pouncy, Decastro, Okorafor) were all gone by the time they played KC the next year except for Okorafor. That line has been rebuilt at first with bailing twine and duct tape but now hopefully with a group of above replacement level NFL players.
I feel like Kahn was a little ahead of the curve with free agent contracts. They have signed a lot of guys but very few are getting more than two years. That keeps a lot of flexibility on the roster. This team isn’t being hampered by bad contracts and dead money.
There is really a lot to like about how this team has transitioned. They are just missing the QB piece. Guess what, a lot of teams are. You have to keep plugging away on that one. I am hoping that they found something in Howard. I know it is unlikely, but I really hate the idea of going all in on a draft pick. I know you need to at times, but I would love to see one fall to them without paying a ransom.
Either of these would be nice, Howard or otherwise. Need some luck for that last one.
I agree landing a QB without selling the draft would be awesome. Imagine what they could do if they could spread all those picks across the roster, or use them to make 4 or 5 picks in the first two rounds.
Roethlisberger, Marino, Rodgers, Wilson, Prescott, Brady, Purdy… a good QB can come from anywhere, but not anyone can become a good QB, e.g. Gino Toretta and “Touchdown” Tim Tebow. Great to be lucky and good.
Omar’s playing chess in a front office that struggled with checkers for a decade. If Mr. Rooney has handed him the keys, it’s cause for optimism.
Genius or not will be borne out in the execution, but at least his plan is bold and fresh, tantalizing for fans who have had more than enough of cautious and stale.
As to the execution, it’ll be interesting to see whether Omar, Aaron Rodgers and Art Smith can successfully exorcise the ghost of Marty Schottenheimer from our head coach. If they can, there just might be some fun in store.
C’mon, Marty went to Pitt for college… okay, Teryl Austin also did that, too. I still think Martyball was better than “Ground” Chuck Knox or Norv “-ocaine” Turner.
Paragraph two says it all.
Marty was also a certain other Steelers head coach’s mentor.
A fact that the pitchfork crowd tends to forget. Right after they forget Marty never won a SB, unlike MT.
Actually, Marty mentored quite a few guys, aside from Cowher, Arians, Wade Philips (ESPN’s DC of last 25 yrs my ass) and Dungy. These guys just did better than Marty in the playoffs.
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s I just hope Steelers Omar Khan can resign T.J. Watt without trading him
T.J. will not sign before it’s time. (Paul Masson)
If I can add another layer in the chess game. The way this team is being built is also the perfect environment for a rookie QB. A solid line (I hope), strong running game, reliable, big body pass catchers and a strong defence. Win now and create an environment for success for a rookie. I like how this is moving.