For a front office that\u2019s been as stable as any in the NFL for more than three decades, it\u2019s no shock to see Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan secure his first contract extension earlier in the week. A three-year pact that keeps him general manager through at least 2028, Khan has flipped the roster on its head. Quarterback remains a long-term question mark, but the PPG\u2019s Ray Fittipaldo believes the extension is an admission from ownership of the difficult hand Khan was dealt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for Art Rooney II, I think it was acknowledgement that Omar took over at a time a month after Kenny Pickett was drafted,\u201d Fittipaldo told 93.7 The Fan\u2019s Jack Hillgrove Friday.<\/a> \u201cThe difficulties that have ensued with that draft pick not working out.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan was officially hired in May of 2022, one month after Kevin Colbert conducted his final draft of his tenure. Pittsburgh\u2019s general manager transition was unusual. The search to replace Colbert began in January of that year but wouldn\u2019t end until after the bulk of free agency and post-draft, giving Khan as new general manager only a half-offseason in the role. The bulk of roster-building had also passed, and Khan couldn\u2019t truly begin to build the roster until the 2023 offseason. Khan was forced to cook the dish with someone else\u2019s groceries.<\/p>\n Colbert\u2019s final class was among his worst. Pickett proved to be the incorrect pick. Third-rounder DeMarvin Leal was a position-less bust, still on the roster but barely hanging around. Second-rounder George Pickens was big on talent but also proved to be the latest in a line of Steelers\u2019 mercurial wide receivers. Free agency wasn\u2019t much better with the additions of QB Mitch Trubisky<\/a> and C Mason Cole. Since then, Khan has been undoing those selections while rebuilding the rest of the roster, investing in a neglected offensive line.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re giving Omar plenty of time to get this done while acknowledging that he took over at a time with a draft pick at quarterback that was not his,\u201d Fittipaldo said.<\/p>\n Next year\u2019s draft will likely be Khan\u2019s first big swing at the position. Pittsburgh has plenty of draft picks and a likely stronger pool of options to consider a 2026 first-round quarterback. The draft being held in Pittsburgh doesn\u2019t hurt, either. There\u2019s no guarantee the Steelers come away with a blue-chip prospect, but the team figures to pound the pavement and scout all viable options.<\/p>\n While Kevin Colbert had his warts, he did the one thing Khan and Mike Tomlin have yet to do. Identify and secure the next franchise quarterback. Khan\u2019s extension gives him plenty of time to find that player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a front office that\u2019s been as stable as any in the NFL for more than three decades,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,40329,9977,1255,6,1256,520,57,2360,7827,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-185555","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jack-hillgrove","10":"tag-kevin-colbert","11":"tag-mike-tomlin","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-omar-khan","14":"tag-pittsburgh","15":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","16":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","17":"tag-ray-fittipaldo","18":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114805679410443045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}