INDIANAPOLIS — Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan had a fairly charmed existence for the first year and a half as his team's top football executive.
But last year, the young exec took some lumps. Meeting with the media for the first time this offseason on Tuesday, Khan acknowledged that some things didn't go according to plan during the 2024 season, as the Steelers failed to win a playoff game for the eighth strait season.
"Obviously, it was disappointing," Khan said. "The way we ended was unacceptable. We know we have to be better. People expect bette. We expect better. That can't happen again. I'm just as disappointed as everyone else. I can tell you we're working hard to fix that and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Khan's big misstep in 2024 came at the wide receiver position. The team traded away incumbent starter Dionte Johnson last March, bringing in cornerback Donte Jackson from the Carolina Panthers in exchange.
The trade worked out fine, with Jackson serving as a solid starter at a position of need and an upgrade on 2023 starters Levi Wallace and Patrick Peterson . Johnson, on the other hand, fell apart. He was traded by the Panthers to the Baltimore Ravens , refused to play for the Ravens, got waived, claimed by the Houston Texans , and then cut once again.
But while the trade worked out, the Steelers were never able to replace the production they lost at the wide receiver position when Johnson left. They signed Van Jefferson in free agency and drafted Roman Wilson in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Jefferson posted his third straight underwhelming season. Wilson missed the entire year with a pair of injuries. Even if those two had played more/and or, better, it still would have been a thin wide receivers group. They seemed to acknowledge that by their pursuit of Brandon Aiyuk in a trade from the San Francisco 49ers last offseason.
The Steelers spent most of the summer pursuing Aiyuk, only to miss out on him at the last second. They ended up not finding a replacement for Johnson.
"I'll just say this, obviously that became a very public process," Khan said. "He made a deal with San Francisco. You know me, I'm always going to look at everything, and if I feel like it's going to help us, we'll take a shot. If not, we'll move on."
But the Steelers weren't able to move on. Khan left all of their eggs in a basket that decided to stay in San Francisco. There was no Plan B better than a run at Mike Williams at the trade deadline .
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Khan admitted on Tuesday that the receivers group last year was just not good enough and a significant part of the team's failure.
"We just weren't good enough," Khan said. "The reality is, you've got to score a lot of points in the league in 2025 football. You've got to score a lot of points and we didn't score enough points. There's a lot of reasons for that, and we've just got to be better."
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan, head coach Mike Tomlin and president Art Rooney II speak after practice, July 27, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
That was fairly obvious to the rest of the world, but this is the first time we've heard the Steelers brass acknowledge it. Even when it was clear last year entering and during the season, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin defended the group.
"You guys were asking us about our lack of 'number two' in team development," Tomlin said in December. "The strength of the pack is the pack. We've got a bunch of guys that want to be the reasons why we're successful, and when given an opportunity, I think they continually prove that, whether its's Scotty [Miller] or Mike [Williams] or Calvin [Austin III] or Van [Jefferson]. We believe in our group. I know I've said that to you guys repeatedly. Maybe you'll start believing me."
They say the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem, so it's good to hear Khan change the team's tune about the group that was so obviously undermanned in 2024.
Now, the Steelers enter the 2025 offseason, still carrying a gaping hole at wide receiver. It's incumbent that Khan learns from his 2024 mistakes.
Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Omar Khan and Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin speak at a press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex before the NFL Draft, Monday, April 22, 2024 in Pittsburgh, PA. (Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers)
The free agent class is not deep or attractive, and it's more likely the Steelers will find a significant upgrade in the trade market, where a player like Christian Kirk , Deebo Samuel or Courtland Sutton might be available and give the team its best chance at a major upgrade.
But they can't get caught waiting on a trade that may never materialize again, either. They need to hit the group running in free agency and find at least some upgrades to a position that has only Roman Wilson under contract beyond the 2025 season. Then if they can add another significant piece on top in a trade, all the better.
"It's obviously a priority," Khan said. "I'm not going to run from that. It's just the reality. We have some guys that are free agents who weren't good enough at that position. So we'll look at everything."
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