Steelers GM Omar Khan reveals that he would approach last year's trade deadline the same way despite disappointing outcome
The Pittsburgh Steelers went out of character on November 5th, 2024. No, I'm not talking about the presidential election, but rather the NFL trade deadline. Going out of their way to acquire two low-risk veterans, the reward part of the evaluation never really paid off. But according to Omar Khan, he would do it all over […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers went out of character on November 5th, 2024.
No, I'm not talking about the presidential election, but rather the NFL trade deadline.
Going out of their way to acquire two low-risk veterans, the reward part of the evaluation never really paid off.
But according to Omar Khan, he would do it all over again…
Steelers GM doesn't regret trade deadline moves
"You know, I think both those guys [Preston Smith & Mike Willams] helped us. If I had to do it again, I would do it again, but at the end of the day, the result was, you know, we lost five straight games and that's not good enough," said Khan on Tuesday at the 2025 NFL Combine.
Mike Willaims' tenure with the Steelers started with a bang. An instant contributor, Williams caught the game-winning touchdown against the Washington Commanders in his Steelers debut.
But from there on, he only had eight receptions in his final eight games and was an afterthought in the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens.
As for Preston Smith, well he was the first player released by the Steelers this offseason.
And sure, that was largely due to his 2025 cap hit, but Smith was a healthy scratch down the back end of the season, with special teamers getting a hat over him on gameday.
So sure, did the Steelers lose out on anything more than day three draft capital? No. But fifth-round picks aren't exactly chump change when you have the draft history that the Steelers do and Willaims didn't exactly live up to the hype after his debut.
One could point to the QB play, George Pickens' injury and offenisve gameplanning as part of those struggles but it was clear that Williams was merely a deep ball option by the end of the season.
There were rumors of a Cooper Kupp trade during that time frame, and surely better fits at EDGE than Preston Smith. But it's all revisionist history now, and Khan himself isn't ruling out any trades this offseason.
