After 1st offseason overseeing assembly of roster, Steelers GM Omar Khan optimistic
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Omar Khan, in some role, has continuously been in the employ of an NFL organization since 1996. He’s been part of the Pittsburgh Steelers for more than 23 years.
That’s a lot of offseasons to navigate. None, though, were quite like this past offseason for Khan.
The period between when the Steelers’ season finale ended Jan. 8 through the start of the first training camp practice Thursday represented the first official offseason in which Khan was a general manager. Promoted late last May to replace the retired Kevin Colbert, Khan has had the final say over moves made in constructing the Steelers roster over the past 6 ½ months.
And, as the 2023 Steelers took to the field for the first time for training camp, Khan sounded satisfied and content with how his particular annual exercise in team building played out.
“This was my first real offseason in this position, so I didn’t really have anything to compare it to,” Khan said during a news conference on the Saint Vincent campus Thursday afternoon. “But just based how things went and our process and the people that I did it with, we talk and evaluate ourselves and the team all the time, and just feel really good about where we’re at.”
Steelers general manager Omar Khan on creating competition at as many spots as possible during this camp pic.twitter.com/J0F3AYdbwb
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) July 27, 2023
The Steelers under Khan in his first offseason as general manager signed 12 veteran free agents, traded for another veteran, re-signed four of the team’s own free agents, allowed six former starters to walk in free agency and conducted a draft in which they traded up in the first round.
It was an offseason that — anecdotally, at least — felt busier and had more player turnover than most had been for the Steelers in the two-plus decades under Colbert when Khan was serving as the organization’s vice president of football and business administration.
“There’s always things that you wish could have happened,” Khan said of the roster building, “but for the most part, we feel really good where we’re at.
“I told the team (Wednesday) night how excited I was about the locker room we’ve assembled there and the group of men we have in that locker room. We’re in a good spot right now. I really believe that.”
Since March, Khan spearheaded the acquisition of as many as 10 to 12 players who will or could start the Sept. 10 season opener. Veteran free-agent additions who could start are guard Isaac Seumalo, cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Chandon Sullivan, safety Keanu Neal, inside linebackers Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts and defensive lineman Armon Watts and/or Breiden Fehoko (only one of whom perhaps could start).
Khan also traded for veteran wide receiver Allen Robinson and selected offensive tackle Broderick Jones, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton among the draft’s first 49 picks.
“We had a vision after last season,” Khan said, referencing coach Mike Tomlin, president Art Rooney II and himself. “We got together, and we put together a plan of what we wanted. We had a vision of what we wanted the roster to look like this year and how we were going to win football games. I can say every week in this league brings a different challenge, and you have to win football games in — every week it’s a different way.”
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Khan repeatedly expressed an optimism for the Steelers this season that isn’t necessarily reflected in, say, the sportsbooks that have pegged them as the most likely last-place finisher in the competitive AFC North.
“It’s just a vibe,” Khan said in explaining his confidence in the 2023 Steelers, “(with) where we are, the locker room of men that we have and the staff. We just know what’s at the end of the tunnel. We know the hard work that it’s going to require to get there, and I just feel good about the people and their willingness to do it.
“We’re all centrally focused on one thing,” Khan added, not-so-subtly referring to a seventh Super Bowl, “and (everyone) knows what that is.”
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