Another year, another anticlimactic trade deadline for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Out of all the Omar Khan whiffs at the trade deadline however, this one seems the hardest to swallow. The team is coming off its most impressive win of the season, a 27-20 beating of the Indianapolis Colts. Pittsburgh has a two game lead in the AFC North at the midway point of the season. The entire AFC seems completely wide open with a down year in Kansas City, and the Bills being less than impressive. If ever there was a year to push your chips into the middle and make a blockbuster move, this was the year.
All the moves Omar Khan made this offseason pointed to making one last run in 2025. He signed the 41 year old Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback. Khan also signed 34 year old Darius Slay, and traded for the 31 year old Jalen Ramsey. These are not deals made with the long term health of the team in mind. These are moves made to win immediately. So why get gun shy now? Hoarding draft picks for the future seems foolish when you’ve built a roster to win in 2025. Not to mention the fact that gambling on these older players is working. Aaron Rodgers is playing quarterback at a level not seen here since the pre-injury Ben Roethlisberger days. The division is yours for the taking, and you just spanked the supposed best team in the conference. Is now not the time to go all in?
The truth of the matter is Omar Khan is playing the very dangerous game of trying to do two things at once. He is trying to win today, while simultaneously building for tomorrow. The problem with this strategy is that opportunities are missed on both sides when you are not totally focused on either. Khan had a very real chance to help this team at wide receiver at the deadline. But while trying to hoard as many assets as possible for next year’s draft, he let some players that could have helped this year slip away.
Whatever the reason, Omar Khan failed the team once again at the trade deadline. Whether it’s Mike Williams, or Kyle Dugger, or William Jackson III, the trade deadline clearly is not Khan’s strong suit. This year more than ever it will hurt this team as it makes its playoff push. Are the Steelers Super Bowl contenders? Probably not. Adding another weapon on offense would have at least put the Steelers in the mix come playoff time. When this team inevitably comes up short in the playoffs once again, we can look back to November 4th as one of the many reasons why.
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