FLORENCE, ORLANDO — In the late afternoon light of a sunny March day, Omar Khan took questions from reporters while seated on a sectional couch. The general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed at ease. When Khan was in front of the same reporters four weeks prior in Indianapolis, he appeared anxious and guarded.
Khan was questioned about his team’s 2024 quarterback choices by the media gathered for the NFL combine on February 29. The lone quarterback on the Steelers’ roster at the time was Kenny Pickett. Khan said he has “complete faith” in the first-round pick in 2022.
Twenty-seven days later, Pickett was gone, moved to Philadelphia, where he will be the backup, while Khan was seated on the terrace of the Ritz-Carlton for the league’s annual meetings. The Steelers suddenly have two quarterbacks: 2021 first-round pick Justin Fields and nine-time Pro Bowler Russell Wilson. Khan smiled.
“If you had told me a month ago, when we spoke in Indianapolis, that Justin Fields and Russell Wilson would be our quarterbacks, and that we would be sitting here today? Indeed, I would be a little taken aback.”
The Steelers, a team long known for its meticulous decision-making procedures, had been trying to snap a seven-year playoff losing streak and possibly win a seventh Lombardi Trophy by adopting the least Steeler-like strategy possible throughout the previous month.
