Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan has been very busy here at the start of the new league year making moves in free agency and via trade to help reshape the roster ahead of the first season of the Mike McCarthy era.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s addressed some significant needs across the board, even if the need at quarterback still remains as everyone waits for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision.<\/p>\n
Though that is hanging over the franchise, there\u2019s no denying the Steelers have improved in short order so far within the new league year. Sports Illustrated\u2019s Gilberto Manzaro believes that\u2019s the case, ranking the Steelers as the fourth-most improved team this offseason, behind only the Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers and Tennessee Titans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Steelers have concerns at quarterback, but it seems they\u2019re expecting Aaron Rodgers to return for his age-43 season and his second with the team. Pittsburgh likely doesn\u2019t trade for [Michael] Pittman [Jr.] and splurge for [Jamel] Dean without some kind of reassurance from Rodgers,\u201d Manzaro writes.<\/a> \u201cClearly, the Steelers want to win now rather than head into a rebuild in their first season without coach Mike Tomlin. If Rodgers returns, this offense could get a boost from the arrivals of Pittman and [Rico] Dowdle, and new coach Mike McCarthy has a reputation for producing prolific offenses.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd don\u2019t overlook the addition of [Jaquan] Brisker, who gives the defense a versatile playmaker, something it didn\u2019t have a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty clear the Steelers have improved with Khan adding a number of veterans to positions of need, which should help the Steelers take a step forward this season. Assuming Rodgers returns for a second season, Pittsburgh is putting a good supporting cast around him<\/a> by trading for veteran wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and swapping in Rico Dowdle at running back for Kenneth Gainwell.<\/p>\n Defensively, Pittsburgh looks to be in much better shape, too. Jamel Dean is set to lock down the cornerback position opposite Joey Porter Jr., while Jaquan Brisker and Darnell Savage give the Steelers a ton of versatility in the secondary, taking some pressure off Jalen Ramsey and DeShon Elliott.<\/p>\n Brisker signed just a one-year deal, but he\u2019s a veteran who can move around the secondary and has made a lot of plays so far in his career. He\u2019s returning home, too, so it\u2019s a great story, one that could have a major impact on the field in 2026.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying the Steelers have gotten better. Manzaro isn\u2019t the only one to feel that way<\/a>.<\/p>\n But concerns remain, specifically along the offensive line on the left side with left tackle Broderick Jones\u2019 health and the departure of Isaac Seumalo. The Steelers still have plenty of cap space to address depth along the offensive line, and the 2026 NFL Draft offers a path forward to swing big at the position.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Right now though, the arrow is pointing up for the Steelers, even with uncertainty at quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan has been very busy here at the start of the new league year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,23388,7343,4423,11808,6,520,57,2360,7152,2348,426,691],"class_list":["post-821328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-football","tag-gilberto-manzano","tag-jamel-dean","tag-jaquan-brisker","tag-michael-pittman-jr","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-rico-dowdle","tag-sports-illustrated","tag-steelers","tag-trending"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116256418331692431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821328","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=821328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}