With the Pittsburgh Steelers trading one of their young stars, Joey Porter Jr., last night, many fans are beginning to question the front office. Specifically, the General Manager, Omar Khan. It appears that every offseason this organization ships off a player whom you hope a draft pick turns into instead of paying and retaining his services. So, is it time to lose faith in the front office of one of the NFL’s prestigious organizations?
Khan’s History
When Omar Khan took over from Kevin Colbert, like many Steelers fans, I was skeptical. For an organization that doesn’t take part in much change, a promotion for someone who had been in the franchise since 2001 wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He was promoted to the team’s GM in 2022, and the new era of the front office began.
Including all of his draft classes, he has drafted one Pro Bowler, George Pickens. That’s the list. What’s funny is that he didn’t even make the Pro Bowl when he was on the Steelers. You would assume he would have more than one player accomplish that feat, considering the talented players this team has selected in previous NFL Drafts.
Pros & Cons
Since taking over, his draft classes have been full of great young talent; however, their ability or unwillingness to retain them has been a bit of an issue. That has been the topic of discussion over the past 24 hours. We have spent a first- and a second-round pick on OT Broderick Jones, GP, and JPJ. You know what? We turned those players and a fourth-round pick into a 2026 3rd -round pick (QB Drew Allar), a 2027 3rd-round pick, a 2027 5th-round pick, a 2027 6th-round pick, and a 2028 second-round pick.
The one potential saving grace is that he has had great success in previous years with drafting players in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Some of those notable players include Pickens, JPJ, DT Keeanu Benton, TE Darnell Washington, C Zach Frazier, and LB Payton Wilson. Those are players who have come in and been impact players for the Steelers. Steelers Nation can only hope and pray that we continue to develop these young players and retain them.
Personal Opinions
I don’t believe it’s time to lose faith. The fact is that we have done an excellent job in adding quality players to the roster. My biggest issue is the fact that when you are drafting players, you hope that they turn into the players they were before we traded them. Joey Porter Jr. is the only cornerback with anything in my lifetime worth anything, and we trade him.
What happened to drafting players, developing them from within, and paying them? Maybe that’s too old school, but come on. I know we historically don’t give out guarantees past the first year of a contract, excluding quarterbacks and TJ Watt, but it’s time to look in the mirror. Keep the talent we have in-house and continue to contend for an AFC North that is wide open.
Final Thoughts
It hurt when I saw JPJ get traded last night because I was so happy when we drafted him. Our front office needs to look in the mirror and think about changing some ideologies in order to keep future elite talent that we draft. Have you lost faith in the Steelers’ front office, or are you still hopeful for the future?
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