Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan stated that the door remains open for 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He also spoke highly of second-year pro Will Howard. And he said that the Steelers haven’t gotten to a point where they feel they have a franchise quarterback Tuesday at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.
There are a lot of balls in the air for the Steelers at the most important position in sports, but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is growing tired of waiting for the franchise to figure things out at quarterback.
“Omar Khan, could you do your job? Do your job. How long is it going to take for you to find a quarterback?” Smith said Wednesday on First Take, according to video via ESPN. “At some point in time you ain’t playing. What are you doing? Whatcha doing? Somebody got to say it. Go find something other than a 42-year-old. You gonna go the geriatric route and literally sit here dependent on this man to come back?
“We know what he is, but he’s 42. It’s one thing to have him on your roster. It’s another thing to sit back and wait for him. That’s a different issue altogether. That shows me you ain’t doing your job. Could you do your job please? Pretty please? Dang.”
Khan has served as the Steelers’ GM since after the 2022 NFL Draft, taking over for Kevin Colbert. Since then, the Steelers have struggled to find a long-term answer at quarterback. That hasn’t all been on Khan though.
Colbert drafted Kenny Pickett in 2022 and saddled the franchise with him moving forward. Colbert also signed Mitch Trubisky that offseason before the draft. Khan later extended Trubisky to keep him around as a backup, going through the 2023 season with Pickett, Trubisky and Mason Rudolph as starters before moving on from all three of them.
Since then, Khan has rolled through Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, Rudolph (he re-signed with the Steelers last offseason) and now Rodgers as starting quarterbacks in the last two years. It’s led to the Steelers making the playoffs, but they haven’t true contenders.
Now, the Steelers are waiting for Rodgers to decide if he wants to play or not in 2026, putting Pittsburgh in a bit of a holding pattern. Waiting for a Rodgers decision has Smith frustrated with Khan and in the direction the Steelers are trending lately.
“You go to Indianapolis and you’re chilling out. You’re sitting back, chilling out, having all these meetings and these press conferences or whatever. Listen, he’s lucky. People want to talk to him. I wouldn’t wanna talk to him. Look, that’s minutes you could be doing your job. Go find a quarterback,” Smith added regarding Khan. “It is only been five years, at least. Big Ben Roethlisberger’s been [gone] for a while. And you are waiting for 42-year-old, you understand?
“To come out of basically retirement, essentially figuratively speaking, to play for you, that’s what you’re doing. That’s not working. That’s not working.”
For Smith to insinuate that Khan isn’t doing his job because he’s meeting with the media on multiple platforms at the Combine is insane. To go on national television and strongly imply that the Steelers GM isn’t doing his job because he can’t just snap his fingers and figure out the QB situation is reckless, but that’s Smith’s whole schtick.
Rest assured, Khan is hard at work. He knows the quarterback position is a massive need. It’s a big reason why Mike McCarthy was hired as the head coach to replace Mike Tomlin. It takes some time though, and the Steelers are very much in the process of figuring things out.
Patience is key here. Smith should learn to have some.
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