The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for training camp in just days, and with the start of players reporting to Saint Vincent College on July 26th marks the official end of the offseason.

And what an offseason it’s been for the black-and-gold, but one person in particular.

Omar Khan

The new Steelers General Manager (GM) has taken over the reigns for long-time GM Kevin Colbert since after the 2022 NFL Draft, but this was his first full offseason at the helm. What has Khan done in the meantime? Let’s just say he, and the new front office, have hit more home runs than singles this offseason.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane, or at least what has taken place since the new league year began in March of 2023.

When it comes to free agency, Khan and company didn’t waste time making decisions. They let players walk, Cam Sutton, Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, and immediately looked for upgrades at those positions. Just look at the players who were added:

• Patrick Peterson
• Elandon Roberts
• Cole Holcomb
• Breiden Fehoko
• Armon Watts
• Nate Herbig
• Isaac Seumalo
• Chandon Sullivan
• Hakeem Butler
• Luq Barcoo
• Keanu Neal

Pretty solid list of players, but he wasn’t done. Let’s also not forget the Steelers the front office chose to retain. Players like:

• Larry Ogunjobi
• Damontae Kazee
• Mason Rudolph
• Miles Boykin
• Zach Gentry

Then there was the trade with the Los Angeles Rams for wide receiver Allen Robinson. A trade which saw the Rams pick up the majority of his contract, while the Steelers get the veteran receiver for at least the 2023 season.

This was all well and good, but Khan had yet to go through the rigors of an NFL Draft. With seven overall picks, Khan was able to wheel-and-deal his way to success with moves up and down the draft board to obtain the following players:

Round 1: Broderick Jones
Round 2: Joey Porter Jr.
Round 2: Keeanu Benton
Round 3: Darnell Washington
Round 4: Nick Herbig
Round 7: Cory Trice Jr..
Round 7: Stephen Anderson

When you take all of those into an account, you can see how the Highsmith contract was the cherry on top of an already tremendous offseason. Khan and his front office clearly wanted to make serious changes at key positions this offseason, and they did just that. Will it equate in more wins? We won’t know that until the season starts in September, but they’ve certainly given the coaches some tools to work with as they forge ahead with the season.

This was one of the many topics of the latest “Let’s Ride” podcast, which you can listen to in the player below.