”Players Aren’t Happy”: Steelers’ Omar Khan Has Upset Plenty Around The NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers hired Omar Khan as general manager in May of 2022, replacing the long-time man of the job, Kevin Colbert. Khan has worked for the Steelers since 2001, where he rose through the ranks in the front office. Now nicknamed the "Khan Artist", he's been able to maintain Pittsburgh's competitiveness and continue the franchise's streak of non-losing seasons. Khan has already hit on some of his draft picks and has proven to make some aggressive moves at times.

He's well-versed in the money and transactional aspects of the NFL, having built up 12 draft selections in the 2026 NFL Draft with the help of the compensatory pick formula.

Throughout the 2026 offseason, Khan has made some key moves to keep the Steelers moving in the right direction. He addressed multiple holes from 2025, such as wide receiver and cornerback depth, and the offensive line. His draft consisted of seven offensive players, a trend that is uncommon for Pittsburgh, as usually, drafts are defense-heavy. 

Khan has been infamous for his incredible knowledge of things like tenders and more "unknown" NFL rules. This sometimes makes players mad, though. 

On an episode of the Snap Count podcast, hosted by former Steelers players Charlie Batch and Trai Essex, Batch exposed some general feelings from players toward Khan and his intense knowledge. The two were talking about the recently-used UFA tender on 2025 starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. 

"This is where you have to credit Omar Khan; he is the wizard in the salary cap era, Batch said. “Now that he's elevated to general manager, he is a guy who reads every detail line by line. There are things that he's done throughout the course of his career that players aren't happy with because he reads line by line. And this is just one other example of what's happening here. It pushed the control back to the Steelers.”

 This rare tender will allow Rodgers to accept a 10% raise from his 2025 salary. However, if Rodgers doesn't sign with a team by July 22nd, Pittsburgh will have exclusive negotiating rights. The Steelers will be awarded a compensatory pick if Rodgers signs with another team before that date. This move is just one example of Khan making an interesting move to the benefit of the franchise. 

Khan, in this case, is just protecting the organization. The Steelers wouldn't completely lose out if Rodgers were to sign elsewhere, as Pittsburgh would get a draft pick. However, if he doesn't make a choice by training camp, he can essentially only negotiate with the Black and Gold. 

This severely limits his movement, but Khan is making sure the team is covered in case something were to change. Batch talked about how these tenders affect players and how it's been a chronic issue. 

"This is something that players hate as it relates to tags and tenders, because again it now limits the movement that a player can have, and ultimately it puts power back into the organization and takes it away from the player. It's very unfair. And this was something that I fought for back in 2011 when the collective bargaining agreement was going on," Batch said.

While only a small number of players get tagged like this, it still really restricts a player in where he wants to go. If he can't make a choice, he is almost forced to remain with the team that tagged him, if a decision isn't made by the deadline.

The Steelers Were Smart In Giving Rodgers The UFA Tender

Rodgers is in year two of making the Steelers wait for a decision from him. In 2025, he waited until June to sign his one-year deal. Now, Pittsburgh is playing a similar waiting game. The Steelers organization gave a timetable that the quarterback would return before the NFL Draft, but that clearly didn't happen. 

With this tender, the Steelers will just protect themselves in case Rodgers retires or goes elsewhere. They are also protected in the off chance he wants a huge pay raise. Khan and the Steelers played this smartly and will cover them in the end. 

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