Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan learned a lot from Kevin Colbert, but three years in, the differences are rather obvious. Granted, his circumstances are different, too, and we can’t forget that when considering Colbert’s legacy and decision-making process. But one thing seems to stick out more than anything, and that’s a willingness to trade personnel assets.
Over the course of Colbert’s tenure as the Steelers’ GM, he traded relatively few players, and rarely without cause. His most notable player trade involved sending WR Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets. While that might resemble some trades made by Omar Khan, the Holmes situation had already come to a head. They already knew he would open the following season under suspension and they had no plans to re-sign him.
Later, of course, Colbert also had to trade Antonio Brown, but Brown gave the Steelers no choice. The Steelers very much could have retained Diontae Johnson or George Pickens, but chose not to. Omar Khan moved Johnson for CB Donte Jackson, a starter. For Pickens, he earned a third-round pick—again, knowing they wouldn’t re-sign him. And the Steelers just signed him to a three-year extension, so he’s doing right by them.
Khan made his first legacy-making move at the trade deadline in 2023, shipping off WR Chase Claypool. This is a player they very much could have held on to, but passed on the opportunity. Of course, the Bears gave them a second-round pick for him, and presumably even Colbert would have taken that deal. He did trade Martavis Bryant, but, again, suspensions factored into that decision.
But is the Minkah Fitzpatrick trade a move Kevin Colbert would have ever made? I think not, personally. This is the type of deal that reflects a divergence in philosophy with Omar Khan—more similar to the Patriots. Bill Belichick was always willing to move onto a player too soon rather than hang onto him for too long.
As longtime Steelers fans know, Colbert and the team always faced criticism for holding onto players for too long. Rather than try to recoup resources while they still retain value, they treasured that “one helmet” philosophy. Of course, they still have a one-helmet philosophy, at least for special players. Cameron Heyward is a one-helmet guy, and T.J. Watt likely will be, too. The Steelers were already Fitzpatrick’s second helmet, so that didn’t matter.
Now, the Steelers are not trading players who are both at the top of their game and locker room leaders. Players like Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and Minkah Fitzpatrick all had their warts of some kind. But what does this mean for the Steelers as they move forward?
Again, Omar Khan and Kevin Colbert are also not playing with the same hand. The Steelers had a franchise quarterback for most of Khan’s tenure, and Khan is looking for one. Colbert was just trying to stock perennial Super Bowl contenders, not accumulating resources. Khan has rebuilt entire rooms multiple times over since taking over as GM, especially the quarterback room. But, three years in, do we have enough data to really read into these patterns? Would he be behaving as Colbert did if they had a similar situation, with a franchise quarterback?
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