We’ve all heard the nicknames and monikers…

• The Khan Artist
• King Khan
• You’ve been Khanned

It all resonates back to the Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager (GM) Omar Khan and his perceived aggressiveness when it comes to the team’s approach to the offseason, mainly free agency and the NFL Draft. But is his aggressiveness nothing more than folklore, or is it legitimate?

According to Khan, he doesn’t necessarily see himself as being overly aggressive, but rather just willing to do whatever it takes to get the Steelers over the proverbial hump. Khan made it his singular focus to do whatever he can to help the Steelers win, and that is something he takes very serious.

“I don’t ever necessarily consider myself or describe myself as aggressive,” Khan said at the league’s meetings earlier this week. “I’m trying to do everything I can to help – I owe it to Steeler nation to do everything I can to try to get to the Super Bowl. And every decision that we make and that we talk about, every move that we make and talk about is based on that. Sometimes we make moves, we make decisions, sometimes we don’t. But it’s always with the intent of doing what we can to get to the second week in February.”

Of course you hear about the moves made, but the moves which weren’t made, or passed on, are never made public. The inner workings of the Steelers organization are rarely ever known to the fan base, but the approach is what is getting all of the latest headlines. This new-age approach is something I spoke about on my Friday “Let’s Ride” podcast, which can be heard in the player below, but Khan isn’t buying into that terminology, or that his new approach is anything new.

“I don’t know if I necessarily say it’s evolved,” Khan said of the team’s approach. “I had the opportunity to learn from Kevin. Kevin and I always worked really close together. And you know, (team president) Art (Rooney II) has been here. And coach has been here for a long time. And we’ve always looked into different opportunities and tried to handle things on a yearly basis with the ultimate goal of getting to the Super Bowl. I think every year brings new challenges. So, it sort of happened that things have kind of gone a certain way this year and even last year.”

The ultimate goal of getting to the Super Bowl. That’s the goal, and Khan is doing everything under his power to get the Steelers roster where it needs to be. Leaving no stone unturned, while that might not be anything new, it sure does seem to be a fresh approach to roster building. And it’s a breath of fresh air.

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 the 2024 NFL Draft.