Omar Khan is no longer on scholarship. Hired as Pittsburgh Steelers general manager in May 2022, this team is his. Especially after Mike Tomlin\u2019s exit, a coach who had considerable influence over the direction of the team. As Khan enters his fourth full season in the GM role, one analyst is comparing his job performance to a house of cards waiting to fall down.<\/p>\n
In his annual general manager rankings,<\/a> NBC Sports\u2019 Patrick Daugherty placed Khan 19th and sent up several warning flags.<\/p>\n \u201cGM Omar Khan has been faithful to the ethos. It could be his undoing. We don\u2019t know if Khan is running back the same tired old playbook by choice or dictate, but this is a roster that needed to be blown up five years ago. That\u2019s bad enough. Even worse, this is no longer a franchise thinking five years into the future. The Steelers had three head coaches from 1969-2025. No club thinks in longer time horizons. That is, until Khan and company hired Mike McCarthy. Suddenly, this is a situation being maximized for a 42-year-old quarterback who didn\u2019t even bother to officially sign until May.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan was one of three men, along with owner Art Rooney II and his son Daniel Martin Rooney, involved in the interview and hiring process that tabbed McCarthy as Tomlin\u2019s successor. At 62, McCarthy isn\u2019t just the oldest hire in team history but its oldest coach at any point. Clearly, he won\u2019t coach for 15-plus years like Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Tomlin.<\/p>\n Daugherty is panning the short-term play of his hire, though the Steelers would argue McCarthy finding and developing a long-term quarterback is a move that would outlast his coaching tenure.<\/p>\n Under Khan, the Steelers have experienced more of the same. Consistently playoff competitive but unable to get over the hump. With Aaron Rodgers\u2019 return, the franchise could face a similar situation in 2026, leaving itself with more quarterback questions next offseason. Daugherty compared the Steelers to a slow water leak that eventually condemns the entire house.<\/p>\n Among the best things Khan has done is invest in the trenches. He\u2019s spent serious draft capital on the offensive and defensive lines, a trend that continued in 2026 by using two Top 100 picks on OT Max Iheanachor<\/a> and OG Gennings Dunker.<\/a> But until the quarterback situation is resolved and the team makes a playoff run, the overall feeling about the franchise won\u2019t change.<\/p>\n Khan\u2019s 19th ranking placed him third in the division. Baltimore\u2019s Eric DeCosta ranked No. 4, and even Cincinnati\u2019s Duke Tobin was slightly ahead at No. 17. Only Cleveland\u2019s Andrew Berry was behind, but not by much, at No. 23.<\/p>\n