Omar Khan’s plan for the Steelers future is nothing short of genius

The Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 season ended in a thud, and following the season fans demanded change.

Change in the coaching staff.

Change in the roster.

Change in the process of roster development.

Any and all change was welcome with the fans of the Steelers.

In the early phases of the offseason the change was minimal, and we’re talking about just two coaching changes on the defensive side of the football. The changes which were made fell short from the expectations of the fan base, but the true change was yet to happen.

It was at the beginning of the new league year in March when the Steelers front office, captained by Omar Khan, decided to concoct a plan to help the Steelers not just win now, but also prepare for the future.

The plan started with it being made public the team was willing to let the vast majority of their free agents walk in an attempt to collect as many compensatory draft picks as possible. At the time, fans thought this was just a ploy to garner draft picks to trade up in the expected quarterback rich 2026 NFL Draft.

For most, including me, this was thought to be the extent of the plan. As for the 2025 season, the team will put the best product possible on the field to see what they can do. I said it on multiple podcasts and articles how I felt the team was calling the 2025 season a “bridge year”. In other words, they were going to try their best this year, but the true focus would be in 2026 when they decide to draft a quarterback.

As the offseason continued to drag on, there were new elements of the plan which started to come to light. The more we learned, the more genius the plan was that Khan and company put together. This plan went far beyond garnering compensatory picks, but it gave the Steelers the freedom to do something everyone in the league thought was impossible…

Win now, yet still prepare the organization for long term success.

The Steelers wouldn’t be able to execute said plan without a viable option at quarterback, and, if we’re being honest, Mason Rudolph was never that guy. Once the team got word Aaron Rodgers would be joining the team, likely well before it was made public, they started to put the wheels in motion on the second half of the plan.

The question which needed answered at this juncture was, “How can we improve the 2025 roster to make it the best it can be?”

It was answering this question which resulted in the team cutting ties with Minkah Fitzpatrick, and acquiring Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith via trade.

Fitzpatrick wasn’t providing the splash plays anymore, and a lot of that was by defensive design, but he also was going to count heavily towards the cap in 2026. There are reports the Steelers were not interested in bringing Fitzpatrick back after 2025, and getting players, not just a compensatory pick, in return was intriguing enough to make a deal. Needless to say, the Steelers found it best to go with versatility over history, and that has made the trade make sense. As for the versatility aspect, more on that to come in a follow-up article.

Recently on a live podcast, we had a viewer comment how the following people were “washed”:

• WR Robert Woods
• CB Jalen Ramsey
• QB Aaron Rodgers
• CB Darius Slay

This commenter might be right, but what he’s not realizing is when it comes to the aforementioned players the focus is only on 2025. Outside of Ramsey, all those players are on one-year contracts and will be off the books in 2026. In fact, do a simple google search and you’ll see the crazy amount of salary cap space the team is projected to have next offseason. Also, anyone else notice how the team hasn’t touched their 2026 NFL Draft assets yet? They are still projected to have up to 12 draft picks next season.

So, let’s recap Khan’s genius plan.

• Leverage your offseason to accrue as many compensatory picks as possible.
• Plan on being aggressive in the draft, so hold onto your assets by all means necessary.
• Sign players to a lot of one-year deals so they are off the books next season, giving you a lot of cap space to maneuver through free agency and contract space.
• Make moves, although sometimes shrewd, to help improve the current roster and give players a shot at winning a Super Bowl.

This didn’t happen by chance. Instead, this has been the plan all along, and it is genius. But that doesn’t mean it will work. The Steelers have executed the plan to near perfection thus far, but if they swing-and-miss on the quarterback in next year’s draft it will all be for nothing. In the meantime, I find myself in awe of the plan which was created for this team. It might just work out, and if it does, might set a new standard for NFL teams who are trying to win now, yet still plan for the future.

Consider this plan the opposite of the “F— those picks” plan set forth for the Los Angeles Rams when they traded almost all their assets for Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller.

Let’s see if the plan works, because I know I’ll be intrigued to find out along with everyone else this season.