This is the year for Omar Khan and his front office to shine for the Pittsburgh Steelers, believes former GM Doug Whaley. With a coaching change and an array of resources, he believes it’s his time to make a significant imprint. The cap is going up substantially, and they will have room as it is. Uncharacteristically, they also have a cache of draft picks, which they can use or trade. Not everyone agrees, however, on what they’ll do.
“This is an offseason where Omar [Khan] and Andy [Weidl] and that personnel staff can put a serious mark on this team and their stamp on this team in building the foundation of what hopes to be a turnaround to a competitive team in the playoffs and to compete for championships”, Whaley said on 93.7 The Fan, discussing the Steelers’ offseason.
“You’ve got the cap space, you’ve got a new coach, and you’ve got draft capital. I would be very excited if I was in that Steelers personnel department right now”, he continued.
Since the end of last season, the Steelers had HC Mike Tomlin resign, replacing him with Mike McCarthy. Given the timing of his hiring and the workload of assembling a coaching staff, his input in the draft process could be minimized. That puts even greater focus on Khan and the Steelers’ front office and personnel department to work this offseason.
One trend Whaley wants to see them move away from has been the acquisition of short-term rentals. For many years, when the Steelers made free agent signings in the offseason, they relied on still-young up-and-comers. They changed that approach in Tomlin’s later years, trying to maximize each year’s Super Bowl chances. As you might have noticed, that strategy failed to produce any Super Bowls.
Last year, for example, they signed Darius Slay in free agency and traded for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith. All are older players, the sorts they might not ordinarily pursue. But it wasn’t a one-year thing—let’s not forget Patrick Peterson, for example. How much of that was Omar Khan and the Steelers’ front office, though, catering to Mike Tomlin’s ever-shrinking coaching window?
The irony, of course, is that Mike McCarthy is several years older than Tomlin, though he claims he has no intention of stepping away any time soon. What everyone in the Steelers organization must focus on, however, from McCarthy to Khan, is finding their next franchise quarterback. And equally important in that process is figuring out who the candidates are not. Few things are more harmful than hitching yourself to the wrong wagon and letting it drag you off your course.
“That transfer portal system and module that they’ve been using the last couple of years, it’s time to start building a foundation”, Whaley said in criticism of the Steelers’ recent offseason strategies. “You have a new coach, you have a new system, everything’s new. Let’s start building that foundation from the ground up”.
With that in mind, he believes it’s Omar Khan’s time to shine. He has the cap space, draft resources, and platform. Mike Tomlin was a big, big presence, and a new coaching regime is still settling in. Not that Mike McCarthy doesn’t have a worldview on roster-building. If ever there were an offseason upon which he could place his stamp, it might well be this one. If only there were a franchise quarterback to draft…
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