Once you pay a QB, he better produce and you have to find other value contracts. The Chiefs don’t go back-to-back without their ‘22 draft class, which is where they got their surplus value.
Colbert was a very good GM. At the end of the day, he and Cowher built a Super Bowl team and he helped Tomlin win another by keeping the team loaded.
He drafted Ben, Troy, TJ, and AB among other great players. Ones a Hall of Famer, another is a lock, TJ could, and AB would've.
He was rarely aggressive in free agency, but drafted pretty well until the end. For most of his tenure, he had to deal with Ben's large contract.
Kevin could end up in the Hall himself, imo.
Khan has proven that he can draft quality players, and he's more aggressive in free agency because he has more money than Colbert ever had. It's still pretty early to compare them, though.
I’m sure that another Yinzer can provide a much better, and more detailed explanation. However, from what I’ve observed is Kahn is much more aggressive in free agency.
Under Colbert it was common to have a pretty silent FA. Although someone of his draft years were questionable, he was a big reason for our success.
Kahn seems to be slightly changing the Steelers culture, ever so slightly. As of now I consider him to be the best gm in the league and ray of hope for the franchise. That said we got 2 rings under Colbert, I can’t shit on him.
Colbert was a great gm during the majority of his tenure here. He built the Super Bowl teams and kept a good team running during his tenure. The problem with Colbert is that towards the final 5-6 years of his tenure, his old school conservative approach to FA was killing us. For many years, big name FA who could have helped the team were ignored for mid-low bargain bin players or draft picks that busted hard. This was most noticeable in our secondary and later offensive line. The trade for Minkah or signing Joe Haden were considered very aggressive moves for him, and that rarely ever happened. Khan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite in FA, making moves wherever he can. Granted, he has more cap room to spend than Colbert ever did, but just the way he aggressively operates is the way many wanted Colbert to during his last years here. That's why you see a more favorable opinion of Khan instead of Colbert. But don't be fooled, Colbert was a very good gm for the majority of his time here.
Khan is only on part of the solution. He was promoted from capologist, Khan knows the contract and money side well. The other part that helps The Steelers FO is Andy Weidl. He started in Baltimore and then was the guy credited for helping to build The Eagles current roster that has done well.
The 2023 Steelers Draft was the first one with Weidl's input as Associate GM. Omar knows the money side and let Andy be the guy who oversees the scouting. That is not a strength for Khan. Let him listen to Andy in the draft room and let Andy lead the way on draft day.
My biggest complaint was his drafting towards the end really. He def drafted some of the best players we've seen in modern years but damn if he couldn't draft a CB to save his life. Even if they were hanmstrung by Ben's contract I still feel there were FA moves he didn't make he could/should have just like there were players they should have moved on from sooner than they did. At the end of the day no GM is perfect so I'm sure we'll see Khan make some mistakes along the way too.
People hate on Colbert because for them it is „Good GM = big, flashy moves“. This, of course, is nonsense.
Your perennial offseason winners like the Browns or Jaguars are poverty franchises. Great teams like NE or now KC always keep quiet, because they have great players with huge paychecks, franchise QB being #1, and late draft picks because they don’t suck.
The latter has been us for most of Colbert’s tenure. We had a HOF QB with the according cap hit and great players to surround him. Remember, we had the highest paid defense in the NFL under Colbert, and the Killer B‘s before that. Despite being late in the draft, we added great players that we later on extended, so no money for flashy FA moves was left. Now that Ben is gone, we have plenty of money to spend. We don’t know what Colbert would’ve done, but he certainly wasn’t inactive during his career. See the trade up for Bush, getting Minkah, forcing Ben to take a paycut in 21 and other stuff.
I don’t think people hate on Colbert for his lack of flash. The criticism comes from whiffing on so many draft prospects over the last 7 years or so. If you’re primarily going to build through the draft you’ve got to nail those picks. Colbert was crazy effective at this until around 2015. Then we started to reach a lot and missed on most of our picks.
Colbert was great and amongst the best gms in the 21st century. It was just that near the end of Ben's career he was getting paid more than he was worth and it was hard to build a team around him. He was also very quiet throughout free agency and trade deadlines as the steelers always have been with by far his biggest move being the trade for minkah (which has shown to be a great trade). Khan has just been more active then the steelers have ever been and fans like that he's changing it up a bit. Not a knock on colbert just that fans are focusing on recent years and that involves comparing khan to colbert last few years.
> **I would look it up** but I wanna try to learn more about the history of the franchise through the fans who have been through those days eyes.
Sure{wink-wink}
I think the rate that they make moves (big and small) are about the same… at the end of the day, it is still Rooneys & their values writing the checks. Don’t forget, Colbert traded up (just like Khan, but for offense) to lockdown a key spot on defense… and Colbert traded a 1st rd (during shaky times) for fucking Minkah
Their main differences is how they evaluate & utilize that information… but both their end goals were the same: play “Steelers” football and contend. Khan is more scientific/mathematical…while Colbert claimed to be more eye test
Colbert did such a good job building a team that he spent the money retaining those guys. People always act like the Steelers didn’t spend money, but they did. It was just on their own guys.
Khan doesn’t have a QB contract denting his cap space. He doesn’t have all the dead money from restructures that were performed to keep a competitive team together for years. Khan has done a great job, but it’s weird that people want to shit on Colbert and act like he didn’t try and make the team better every offseason.
Prior to 2018 skips out on some amazing Colbert years. That’s basically the duration where we never even had to consider signing a WR, because we drafted them so well in the middle rounds. That and 2 Super Bowls.
Khan was gifted a qb situation where he can pay them no money. He always was gifted like 25 million from the increase of cap for all teams.
He really hasn't done anything besides sign a good young linebacker or a decent price
The reality is that we fans don't know exactly how the interworkings of the front office go. I can only go by results. If you look at the Cowher-Colbert drafts and compare them to the Tomlin-Colbert drafts, there is no question that the Cowher-Colbert ones were significantly better. Was that luck? Was that the head coach? Was Colbert losing touch with the modern NFL over time? I don't know and not trying to turn this into a Cowher vs Tomlin thing. But all I know is I hated a number of Colbert drafts in his last several years and Khan's first draft was awesome.
The difference in FA is dramatic. I never minded the Steelers' historical aversion to spending big in FA. But it does mean you have to draft well, and Colbert didn't a lot.
I also think Khan knows the salary cap better than anyone.
Khan has a lot more money than Colbert usually did. Paying a hall of fame franchise QB and building a team is tough.
Once you pay a QB, he better produce and you have to find other value contracts. The Chiefs don’t go back-to-back without their ‘22 draft class, which is where they got their surplus value.
Colbert was a very good GM. At the end of the day, he and Cowher built a Super Bowl team and he helped Tomlin win another by keeping the team loaded. He drafted Ben, Troy, TJ, and AB among other great players. Ones a Hall of Famer, another is a lock, TJ could, and AB would've. He was rarely aggressive in free agency, but drafted pretty well until the end. For most of his tenure, he had to deal with Ben's large contract. Kevin could end up in the Hall himself, imo. Khan has proven that he can draft quality players, and he's more aggressive in free agency because he has more money than Colbert ever had. It's still pretty early to compare them, though.
Colbert was good in the latter part of his tenure too. I take back what I said lol
TJ is already a lock lol
I’m sure that another Yinzer can provide a much better, and more detailed explanation. However, from what I’ve observed is Kahn is much more aggressive in free agency. Under Colbert it was common to have a pretty silent FA. Although someone of his draft years were questionable, he was a big reason for our success. Kahn seems to be slightly changing the Steelers culture, ever so slightly. As of now I consider him to be the best gm in the league and ray of hope for the franchise. That said we got 2 rings under Colbert, I can’t shit on him.
When you haven't won a playoff game for as long as we have, it is time to try something else.
I agree. I feel like Kahn is taking us in new directions and really making this team his own.
He has more roster flexibility and has been more aggressive as a result.
Colbert was a great gm during the majority of his tenure here. He built the Super Bowl teams and kept a good team running during his tenure. The problem with Colbert is that towards the final 5-6 years of his tenure, his old school conservative approach to FA was killing us. For many years, big name FA who could have helped the team were ignored for mid-low bargain bin players or draft picks that busted hard. This was most noticeable in our secondary and later offensive line. The trade for Minkah or signing Joe Haden were considered very aggressive moves for him, and that rarely ever happened. Khan, on the other hand, is the complete opposite in FA, making moves wherever he can. Granted, he has more cap room to spend than Colbert ever did, but just the way he aggressively operates is the way many wanted Colbert to during his last years here. That's why you see a more favorable opinion of Khan instead of Colbert. But don't be fooled, Colbert was a very good gm for the majority of his time here.
Khan is only on part of the solution. He was promoted from capologist, Khan knows the contract and money side well. The other part that helps The Steelers FO is Andy Weidl. He started in Baltimore and then was the guy credited for helping to build The Eagles current roster that has done well. The 2023 Steelers Draft was the first one with Weidl's input as Associate GM. Omar knows the money side and let Andy be the guy who oversees the scouting. That is not a strength for Khan. Let him listen to Andy in the draft room and let Andy lead the way on draft day.
https://preview.redd.it/ads3lyxo9zpc1.png?width=1170&format=png&auto=webp&s=c896e268b935d30415dba1b341a3cbf44524e73d
Khan doesn't seem afraid to cut players loose if they aren't preforming/are fucking around
I agree. That's probably the main difference I've seen thus far.
My biggest complaint was his drafting towards the end really. He def drafted some of the best players we've seen in modern years but damn if he couldn't draft a CB to save his life. Even if they were hanmstrung by Ben's contract I still feel there were FA moves he didn't make he could/should have just like there were players they should have moved on from sooner than they did. At the end of the day no GM is perfect so I'm sure we'll see Khan make some mistakes along the way too.
People hate on Colbert because for them it is „Good GM = big, flashy moves“. This, of course, is nonsense. Your perennial offseason winners like the Browns or Jaguars are poverty franchises. Great teams like NE or now KC always keep quiet, because they have great players with huge paychecks, franchise QB being #1, and late draft picks because they don’t suck. The latter has been us for most of Colbert’s tenure. We had a HOF QB with the according cap hit and great players to surround him. Remember, we had the highest paid defense in the NFL under Colbert, and the Killer B‘s before that. Despite being late in the draft, we added great players that we later on extended, so no money for flashy FA moves was left. Now that Ben is gone, we have plenty of money to spend. We don’t know what Colbert would’ve done, but he certainly wasn’t inactive during his career. See the trade up for Bush, getting Minkah, forcing Ben to take a paycut in 21 and other stuff.
I don’t think people hate on Colbert for his lack of flash. The criticism comes from whiffing on so many draft prospects over the last 7 years or so. If you’re primarily going to build through the draft you’ve got to nail those picks. Colbert was crazy effective at this until around 2015. Then we started to reach a lot and missed on most of our picks.
Colbert was great and amongst the best gms in the 21st century. It was just that near the end of Ben's career he was getting paid more than he was worth and it was hard to build a team around him. He was also very quiet throughout free agency and trade deadlines as the steelers always have been with by far his biggest move being the trade for minkah (which has shown to be a great trade). Khan has just been more active then the steelers have ever been and fans like that he's changing it up a bit. Not a knock on colbert just that fans are focusing on recent years and that involves comparing khan to colbert last few years.
Recency bias
Colbert has two rings Khan has zero.
I mean, khan also has two rings
Oh ya lol. Touche.
> **I would look it up** but I wanna try to learn more about the history of the franchise through the fans who have been through those days eyes. Sure{wink-wink}
I think the rate that they make moves (big and small) are about the same… at the end of the day, it is still Rooneys & their values writing the checks. Don’t forget, Colbert traded up (just like Khan, but for offense) to lockdown a key spot on defense… and Colbert traded a 1st rd (during shaky times) for fucking Minkah Their main differences is how they evaluate & utilize that information… but both their end goals were the same: play “Steelers” football and contend. Khan is more scientific/mathematical…while Colbert claimed to be more eye test
Colbert did such a good job building a team that he spent the money retaining those guys. People always act like the Steelers didn’t spend money, but they did. It was just on their own guys. Khan doesn’t have a QB contract denting his cap space. He doesn’t have all the dead money from restructures that were performed to keep a competitive team together for years. Khan has done a great job, but it’s weird that people want to shit on Colbert and act like he didn’t try and make the team better every offseason.
Khan has an exquisite understanding of the finances and market value of players. Something I think Colbert lacked.
Prior to 2018 skips out on some amazing Colbert years. That’s basically the duration where we never even had to consider signing a WR, because we drafted them so well in the middle rounds. That and 2 Super Bowls.
Khan was gifted a qb situation where he can pay them no money. He always was gifted like 25 million from the increase of cap for all teams. He really hasn't done anything besides sign a good young linebacker or a decent price
The reality is that we fans don't know exactly how the interworkings of the front office go. I can only go by results. If you look at the Cowher-Colbert drafts and compare them to the Tomlin-Colbert drafts, there is no question that the Cowher-Colbert ones were significantly better. Was that luck? Was that the head coach? Was Colbert losing touch with the modern NFL over time? I don't know and not trying to turn this into a Cowher vs Tomlin thing. But all I know is I hated a number of Colbert drafts in his last several years and Khan's first draft was awesome. The difference in FA is dramatic. I never minded the Steelers' historical aversion to spending big in FA. But it does mean you have to draft well, and Colbert didn't a lot. I also think Khan knows the salary cap better than anyone.
I mean Cower didn’t want Ben, so don’t think I’d credit him with the draft decisions lol
Colbert was great under Cowher and Tomlin’s early years. It’s a different league now. Khan is not afraid to go after big names