Pittsburgh Steelers fans griped when their team did the typical hire-from-within after general manager Kevin Colbert stepped down. But Pittsburgh knew exactly what it was doing. The NFL and team structure is all about the money and with the promotion of Omar Khan from vice president of football & business administration to general manager, they got their money guy.
Khan had been at it for years with the Steelers, coming to Pittsburgh from the New Orleans Saints in 2001 as their football administration coordinator. A decade later, he was promoted to director of football administration. His titles were all fancy for salary cap guru.
And it’s been on display so far in his second year as general manager, especially regarding Russell Wilson and newly acquired Justin Fields.
For Khan and the Steelers, it was the right team at the right time. First, they needed one quarterback, which quickly became two after Mitch Trubisky’s release and the Kenny Pickett trade. It’s hard to imagine the Steelers would’ve done either without knowing they’d be set when they did.
The right time is thanks to the Denver Broncos’ massive mishandling of their Wilson contract and the Chicago Bears wanting to move on from Fields.
With Denver footing the remainder of Wilson’s guaranteed contract and Fields still on his rookie deal, the Steelers have both quarterbacks under contract for a combined $4.5 million in 2024.
By comparison, newly-signed cornerback Donte Jackson will earn $4.7 million in 2024.
Of course, it won’t always be this way. Although Fields’ salary this year is $3.233 million, they’ll have to decide by May 2 whether to exercise his fifth-year option to the tune of $25.664 million.
Russell Wilson just signed a one-year deal for the $1.21M minimum.
Justin Fields is due $3,233,448 and the #Steelers will now have the rights to his fifth-year option.
Pittsburgh’s QB depth chart is under contract for under $4.5M total. https://t.co/ym2zUoOfST
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 16, 2024
