The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 NFL Draft was exciting, but for different reasons when you compare it to the 2023 draft process. Unlike last year, where they made trades throughout the 3-day selection process, the Steelers stayed put in 2024 with all seven of their draft picks. But don’t think that was because no one was calling about trading both up and down.

The Steelers were fielding calls for both types of moves.

“We had conversations about moving up and the phone was ringing about moving down,” General Manager (GM) Omar Khan said. “Really, every round we were in, we had a pick, we were having conversations about moving up, moving down. It was pretty active.”

While some fans might have looked at the players who were available, they might have liked the team to make a move. Maybe it was trade up for a player sliding, or trade back to garner more draft picks. Either way, the Steelers value both the research they’ve done on these prospects, and the relationships they’ve developed with the players.

“I don’t know that it’s in every instance there’s something along those lines, but obviously we value the tape, and oftentimes tape is produced by good relationships with the game and work ethic and being solid individuals,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “We value all of those things. We research. I think that’s kind of reflective of this group.”

Some might label the Omar Khan era as aggressive; however, a better adjective might be patient. Especially this year’s draft Khan remained patient, not having to trade up to get any of the prospects who seem built perfectly for the Steelers in many ways.

“You have no choice but to be patient on draft weekend,” Khan said. “But it all comes down to what players are there when you’re picking, and you try to make the right decisions, whether to move up, move down, or take a pick. I know we made some moves last year, but when there’s a good player there, it’s hard to trade away from and we had the opportunity to trade away, to trade back this year, and with where we were, we just felt really good about the players we took and where we took them.”

The Steelers have received rave reviews for their 2024 draft class in the days following the draft, but the true test for the class won’t be for several years. Nonetheless, on paper it seems Khan aced yet another test as the GM of the Steelers. Let’s hope there are more aces up his sleeve throughout his tenure as GM.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of the offseason and get ready for the 2024 regular season.