The Pittsburgh Steelers let the last members of the team's 2022 NFL Draft class walk out the door on Thursday, with wide receiver Calvin Austin III and tight end Connor Heyward leaving for the New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders , respectively.
Their departures mean that no player from the entire seven-player draft class got a second contract with the Steelers. That class exacerbated what had been a troubling trend toward the end of the career of former Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert.
Only two players in the 2021 class — second-round tight end Pat Freiermuth and fifth-round defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk — made it to a second contract with the Steelers. In 2020, it was one, outside linebacker Alex Highsmith . From the 2019 class, wide receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Zach Gentry both got a second contract, but Gentry was cut before ever playing on his.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 29, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
In 2018, two players, Terrell Edmunds and Mason Rudolph got second contracts, but Edmunds didn't get his until his fifth-year option was declined.
The Steelers' first-round picks were some of the greatest failures of this era. The last time the Steelers had a first-round pick that got a second contract with the team was T.J. Watt , who was drafted in 2017.
Colbert was a great general manager for the Steelers, full stop. There's no questioning his legacy. He built two Super Bowl winners. The list of general managers in NFL history that can claim that are exceedingly small.
He also built those teams through the draft, with an incredible hit-rate on late-round draft picks and UDFAs. Yes, Ben Roethlisberger (No. 11 overall) was the biggest Steelers start of the era, but they don't win Super Bowls and play in another without Ike Taylor (fourth round), William Gay (fifth round), Chris Kemoeatu (sixth round), Brett Keisel (seventh round), James Harrison and Willie Parker (undrafted).
But there's also no question that during the last five years of Colbert's tenure, that success in the draft fell apart. The Steelers struggled with first-round picks and stopped finding gems.
That downturn of draft fortune is the biggest reason the Steelers have been unable to return to their previous championship form. Yes, the Steelers lack talent equivalent to their peers at the quarterback position. But they had overcome that in the past. They made the Super Bowl with Neil O'Donnell. They made the AFC Championship Game with Kordell Stewart . They won 12 games in 2020 with post-elbow-surgery Roethlisberger.
Since then, they've been an above-average team with below-average talent across the board.
Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Joey Porter Jr. in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 5, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
It seems that trend is close to reversing. The 2023 draft class is up for new contracts this offseason, and Omar Khan seems fit to hand out more contract extensions to his first group than Colbert did to his land handful of classes.
Joey Porter Jr. , Keeanu Benton , Darnell Washington and Nick Herbig all appear to be in line for contract extensions this offseason, and while a neck injury seems likely to prevent the Steelers from picking up the fifth-year option of left tackle Broderick Jones , it's not hard to see a world where he and Spencer Anderson end up on the Steelers in 2027 and beyond, as well.
To win a Super Bowl, at some point, Khan will need to come up with stars, and not just starters, and find a new franchise quarterback. But job number one coming in the door was to reverse the team's recent trend of poor draft classes, and while the returns are early, it seems he's done exactly that.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Saunders: Omar Khan Well on His Way to Fixing Biggest Problem with Steelers
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