Tag: Omar Khan

Steelers eyeing potential return of CB Cameron Sutton

The Steelers cornerback problems might be solved.

According to Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac, the Pittsburgh Steelers brass including head coach Mike Tomlin and General Manager Omar Khan met with former Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton last week.

We theorized a return for Sutton after his sudden release from the Detroit Lions. Sutton was facing some criminal allegations which were later reduced from domestic violence charges down to just a misdemeanor battery. Sutton was released by the Lions on March 21.

Sutton spent his first six seasons with the Steelers after Pittsburgh drafted Sutton in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. Sutton left the Steelers in 2023 for a big free-agent contract in Detroit.

If the Steelers meet with Sutton and are satisfied with his off-field situation and can bring Sutton back, we are here for it. Sutton was the team’s best cornerback his last two seasons in Pittsburgh and worked his way to that big free-agent deal. He could be looking to come back to the team that turned him into the pro he is and if the contract is manageable, all he can do is help this team.

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Steelers GM Omar Khan says team had chance to trade down

The Steelers passed on the opportunity to trade back and stuck with their guy in Troy Fautanu.

There were plenty of options for the Pittsburgh Steelers when they went on the clock with the No. 20 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. We immediately wondered if the Steelers would consider a trade back to stockpile extra picks and still get one of their top-rated guys.

According to Steelers General Manager Omar Khan, the team had opportunities to trade back but head coach Mike Tomlin quickly interjected and said that Washington offensive tackle Troy Fautanu was their top-rated guy and they weren’t going to move off of him as the pick. Had the team moved back, they still could have landed an excellent player but clearly, Fautanu was their guy.

Tomlin called Fautanu a “black and gold type of a guy” and says the team views him as a tackle, not a center. The Steelers have three picks on day two of the draft and should have an opportunity to continue to build the offense with a starting center and wide receiver.

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Strong draft haul could cost the Steelers invaluable FO staff

The Steelers have leaned heavily on assistant GM Andy Weidl in the draft.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan gets all the credit for the Steelers strong offseason the last two years but there’s a forgotten name in the mix. That is assistant general manager Andy Weidl. When Khan spoke to the media on Monday, he heaped praise on Weidl and gave him credit for leading the process as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL draft.

I have a lot of anecdotes about Andy (Weidl) I’m not really going to share them. We go way back. But Andy’s (Weidl) been great. You know, I’ve said this before, I’m very fortunate to have a great staff around me. You know, with Andy (Weidl) and Sheldon White and Mark Sadowski, Cole Marcoux, Dan Colbert and the rest of the guys. It’s just been, they’re great for me. But
you know, Andy (Weidl) leads his process, and he does an awesome job of it and I’m excited about what Thursday is going to bring.

If the Steelers knock the 2024 NFL draft out of the park the way they did in 2023, Weidl will be a hot name for general manager vacancies in the 2025 offseason.

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Steelers GM Omar Khan says trade up for Broderick Jones came quickly

Omar Khan shared a little of the process for making a quick trade up during a live draft.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers brain trust of general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media and noted they aren’t overly interested in trading up in the first round on Thursday. But this wasn’t the case in the 2023 NFL draft.

Last year Pittsburgh moved up from pick No. 17 to pick No. 14 in order to land offensive tackle Broderick Jones. The move came as a big surprise to fans and analysts and according to Khan, this wasn’t planned in advance and came together in a rush.

That one came together on Thursday,” Khan said. “I wouldn’t say with three minutes left on the clock, but it was pretty close to us being on the clock.”

There are a few players we could see the Steelers working a quick trade on Thursday night to land but it won’t be a Jones situation. If wide receiver Rome Odunze or Malik Nabers slides, it would make sense or maybe one of the top offensive tackles forces a repeat of last year.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin shares importance of Top 30 visits

The Steelers always max out their Top 30 vists as part of the predraft process.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have always made a point to be very deliberate and intentional with their pre-draft visits. On Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media ahead of the 2024 NFL draft and he spoke on the franchise’s importance of those visits to the team.

You know, in some instances it’s significant and in some instances, it’s a box check. We got several ways to gain exposure to players during this process. You know, those that participate in the Senior Bowl, we get an opportunity and interview those guys down there. Obviously, we get Combine opportunities, Omar (Khan) and myself, we traveled to a lot of pro days. And
so, the 30 visits are another means of gathering pertinent information. Sometimes the guy is a non-combine invite, and we want medical information for example. Sometimes a guy wasn’t a Senior Bowl participant, and we didn’t interview him at the Combine. We also have local visits that are nonencounters. I just think largely for us, it’s about exposing ourselves to as many of these guys as we can. And the 30 visit is just a means of catching something if some of the other opportunities have not provided
that.

The Steelers have brought in a wide variety of prospects for visits and we fully expect the team’s first-round pick to come from that list. The Steelers are in a position to pick from top prospects at multiple positions including offensive line and wide receiver with the No. 20 overall pick.

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2024 NFL draft: Steelers open to taking a quarterback

WIth three rental quarterbacks on the roster, the team could draft a new signal caller this year.

In our latest Pittsburgh Steelers mock draft, we speculated that the Steelers could trade newly-acquired quarterback Justin Fields in a draft-day deal with the Denver Broncos to help build this team up at other spots.

For some, this might seem far-fetched but after listening to general manager Omar Khan speak to the media on Monday, this might not be such a stretch after all.

Khan was honest about the potential future of Fields with the team and that the team is open to the idea of drafting a quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft.

“There’s some good players there, and I wouldn’t close the door on anything,” Khan said. “There’s an opportunity to improve that room. Obviously, we’ll look at it. We have three guys that are on one-year deals and we have to be open to it.”

The Steelers are unlikely to give Fields his fifth-year option, especially given they also need to decide on running back Najee Harris as well as the fact that Russell Wilson is the starting quarterback this season.

We are all for the Steelers adding a quarterback in the second or third round this year even if they don’t trade away Fields. Poor planning by the Steelers toward the end of Ben Roethlisberger’s career has been haunting them so we are glad to hear them thinking more proactively.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin: We ‘don’t feel overly thirsty’ heading into NFL draft

Pittsburgh had a huge free agency and can cruise into the NFL draft.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the big movers and shakers in free agency this offseason. General manager Omar Khan has put together back-to-back free agency hauls that have Steeler Nation excited about the future.

Khan also did well with the 2023 NFL draft and everyone is hoping for a repeat performance. But when head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media on Monday he was casual about the draft because of how well the Steelers did in free agency.

You know, it’s two means by which we develop our football team for 2024 that goes with existing talent: It’s free agency and the draft. We’ve been very active in free agency and that makes you really comfortable as we lean in on draft weekend. We’ve addressed a lot of needs and you don’t feel overly thirsty in any particular.

This is not to say the team doesn’t have needs, because it does. After trading away Diontae Johnson, the team is minus a starting wide receiver and they are still in need of another starting cornerback. Pittsburgh could also stand an upgrade at center and offensive tackle. Nevertheless, it sounds like the Steelers are going to let the first round unfold for them and let that dictate the direction they go.

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Steelers 2024 NFL draft: Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan discuss trading back in the first round

Given the Steelers have so many needs heading into the NFL draft, trading down to acquire more picks is an option worth considering.

Given the Pittsburgh Steelers have so many needs heading into the NFL draft, trading down to acquire more picks is an option worth considering.

But it’s not something they’ve done much of recently. The last time Pittsburgh traded back was over a decade ago, in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. The Steelers traded No. 155 to the Arizona Cardinals for cornerback Bryant McFadden and pick No. 195 (sixth round), where they selected wide receiver Antonio Brown.

“You never trade away, in my opinion, from a good place, a good player,” Omar Khan told the media in Monday’s predraft press conference. “But, obviously, if there’s another scenario that makes sense for both sides, you have to look at it.”

Tomlin added that, historically, No. 20 has been a sweet spot for teams looking to make a trade.

“That’s probably the area where people are having those discussions because they’re good for teams that are usually playoff-caliber football teams,” Tomlin said. “Sometimes trading back provides value for those teams that don’t have glaring needs, I think. That’s probably the spot where that kind of ends, and those discussions, the 20, it seems like it always is.”

The last time the Steelers were at pick No. 20, they stayed put and chose quarterback Kenny Pickett.

We all know how that turned out.

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2024 NFL draft: Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan skirt need of Steelers drafting center

The Steelers continue to maintain they don’t feel any pressure to draft a center early.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers released starting center Mason Cole at the start of free agency, it left a huge void along the offensive line.

Or did it?

For the third time since the team released Cole, they have been asked about the center position and for the third time the team has made it clear they feel like they have internal options at center and don’t seem to feel any pressure to draft a new starting center.

Let’s think about that for a second. What are those options? First and foremost it would be starting backup center Nate Herbig. Herbig has a total of 47 career snaps at center in the NFL.

Or perhaps it is about a position move. James Daniels was the starting center at Iowa for two seasons and in 2019 he went back and forth between center and guard while with the Chicago Bears. If the Steelers did move Daniels, this could open the door for Spencer Anderson to start at guard.

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Grade the Steelers 2024 offseason ahead of the 2024 NFL draft

Cast your vote and tell us how you thnk the Steelers have done so far this offseason.

2024 has been one of the busiest and most interesting offseasons in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. General Manager Omar Khan continues to be aggressive, wheeling and dealing to rebuild several positional units. The highlights have centered on the team going from Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky to Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen as the new quarterback depth chart.

Having said all that, Pittsburgh is 10 days away from the 2024 NFL draft with several starting spots unsettled. The team currently needs a starting center and wide receiver as well as an upgrade at offensive tackle and possibly cornerback.

It is hard to imagine the draft is going to yield every position the Steelers need and there will need to be more work done heading into offseason workouts and training camp.

But as of now, what grade do you give Khan and the Steelers front office for everything they have done prior to the draft?

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