Steelers' Omar Khan Era Takes An Unexpected Turn Amid Mounting Issues: "Creating Mold"

The Pittsburgh Steelers fans are seriously about to learn a lot about General Manager Omar Khan. For the past 19 seasons, many fans have primarily placed the blame on former head coach Mike Tomlin. Now that Tomlin is no longer the head coach, Khan becomes the next central figure tied to roster construction who can be evaluated and criticized. Mike McCarthy, in his first year, will face plenty of scrutiny from a restless fan base. Howee for Khan, the expectations are different. He has been the general manager since May 24, 2022, and still has not found the franchise quarterback to replace Ben Roethlisberger, which remains the biggest knock on his tenure.

Beyond that, many believe Khan has made prudent moves aimed at improving the roster while continuing the search for the next franchise quarterback. With Aaron Rodgers back for the 2026 season, Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Drew Allar remain in the quarterback room. Naturally, Khan’s legacy as a general manager will be tied to whether he solves the quarterback issue or not. Until that happens, it is difficult to fully define his ranking across the NFL.

That did not stop Patrick Daugherty, who has written for NBC Sports since 2011, from attempting to rank him among NFL general managers. According to Daugherty, Khan is the 19th best GM in the league, and his reasoning raised eyebrows.

"More than most teams, the Steelers are an organization," Daugherty said. "You might get tired of hearing about it, but there really is a 'Steeler Way.' That means no coach, quarterback or especially general manager is supposed to overshadow the rest of the operation. That doesn’t always work out — see 'Rodgers, Aaron' — but GM Omar Khan has been faithful to the ethos. It could be his undoing. We don’t know if Khan is running back the same tired old playbook by choice or dictate, but this is a roster that needed to be blown up five years ago. That’s bad enough. Even worse, this is no longer a franchise thinking five years into the future. The Steelers had three head coaches from 1969-2025."

McCarthy was hired by the Steelers after Tomlin elected to walk away. Daugherty believes that this change makes it difficult to determine how much responsibility falls on Khan versus how much he is simply following the Steelers’ organizational ethos. 

Either way, it is not encouraging news for Steelers fans hoping to hear that Khan has the team firmly set up for the future.

"How much of this is really Khan’s fault is unclear, but then again, he left himself vulnerable to such inertia when he failed to replace Ben Roethlisberger from 2022-24," Daugherty said. "Khan has not been a disaster. His rosters have a 39-29 record to prove it. But just because the bottom has not fallen out does not mean the ceiling is being adequately supported. Khan’s has a bad leak, and the dripping water is creating mold at the base. No one should be surprised when this house is eventually condemned."

Steelers' Omar Khan Directly Contradicts The Critique

While Daugherty raises some solid points, others would argue that Khan has set this roster up almost perfectly and that the team simply needs a quarterback. The Steelers have a good mix of veterans and young talent, but there are questions about whether they are too old in certain areas and should fully move on. 

However, the Steelers are not likely to take that approach, and with a young offensive line ready to continue growing together and exciting playmakers all over the roster, Pittsburgh may be more set up for the future than Daugherty realizes.

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