The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a dreadful finish to their 2024 season, and the page couldn’t be turned to the 2025 league year fast enough. However, for many fans there is little-to-no hope for the future as the team remains in the purgatory that is the good-not-great category. But what is coming up with the new league year in March is a golden opportunity for fans around the globe to see what General Manager (GM) Omar Khan and Assistant GM Andy Weidl are truly made of.

Khan is coming off two solid NFL Draft classes, and when you look at his free agent signings, even without a ton of space to work with, he has more hits than misses. What they have awaiting them in the new league year is an amount of cap space they aren’t accustomed to seeing. The Steelers will have roughly $60 million dollars in cap space, but could make that over $70 million with just a few more roster moves which are highly expected.

Equipped with this amount of money, and Khan’s ability to manipulate contracts to ease the burden of signings, this league year will be his time to shine. If the Steelers front office is capable of being aggressive, all while remaining smart, in free agency it could help not just with fan confidence, but putting the Steelers in a better position to succeed.

In my opinion, even with a killer free agent crop and another stellar draft class, the Steelers aren’t an elite level team. This might be depressing for some fans reading this article, but it doesn’t mean 2025 will be a waste, or meaningless. Instead, it could be a stepping stone to the team proving they are truly a quarterback away.

That is the goal at hand this offseason, to build a roster which is strong enough to be able to have an above average, but not elite, quarterback at the helm and win meaningful games. The holes are well-known, and many, and it will be up to Khan and company to get those needs addressed before thinking about a major play for a quarterback who could put them over that proverbial hump.

One of the worst-case scenarios for the Steelers would be to invest heavily at the quarterback position before the rest of the roster is truly ready to contend. Doing so would be similar to when they drafted Najee Harris in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft without a decent line to block for him. The result? Harris struggled just to get back to the line of scrimmage on most occasions.

If the Steelers were to make a trade for a player like Matthew Stafford, they might win 9-11 games, make the playoffs, but will they win a Super Bowl? Unfortunately, the likelihood of that happening is slim. Instead, it would keep the Steelers in the same rut they currently find themselves in on an almost yearly basis.

At this point, you might be wondering how long the Steelers are going to be in this current position?

Great question.

The answer is unknown, but it is fair to wonder if the team views their roster differently than the fan base. If they feel they are just a few pieces away to contend for a Super Bowl. If that’s the case, you can expect them to do whatever they think is best to try and win now. However, if they view the roster as a few seasons away, there is also a chance the team could look to leverage their current roster to help their future roster via trade.

Would dealing George Pickens to another team hurt the current team? It absolutely would make the need at wide receiver even greater than it is now, but it could also provide draft capital which could benefit the team down the road.

The same story could be told about any player who might be sought after by another team who is willing to give up valuable assets in doing so.

All options should be on the table this offseason, and this is the type of offseason where you get to see what a GM and his team are truly made of. Are they like Howie Roseman and company who have built a championship roster in short order? Or will they fall into the same trap as other GMs around the league who don’t spend the money wisely, draft poorly, and hold onto players too long and watch the organization who employs them having to start over as they hire a new GM?

We’ll know soon enough, but it’s time to see what Khan is made of.