Madden Monday: Timing of Omar Khan's extension an example of Art Rooney II's 'lazy' approach to Steelers' ownership

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan is getting a three-year contract extension, even though the team has yet to win a playoff game under the first three years of his stewardship.

Mark Madden of TribLive and 105.9 The X thinks that’s a bit curious.

“I don’t understand why now,” Madden said during this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast. “He’s made some deals recently that kind of took the Steelers off their comfortable axis. I’m all for that. But why not wait to see if they work? He got DK (Metcalf). He got (Jalen) Ramsey. He got Jonnu (Smith). He signed (Aaron) Rodgers. Why not wait to see if that works?”

Madden would prefer to see “The Khan-artist” build up more of a track record and a resume before he is deemed to be a worthy successor to Kevin Colbert.

“Kevin Colbert was five times the general manager that Omar Khan is,” Madden said. “The only thing Kevin Colbert lacked was a catchy nickname.”

According to Madden, extending Khan before the results of those trades are known is a move emblematic of Art Rooney II’s ownership style.

“All they want is stability. It’s stability in the mushy middle. It’s treading sludge, but it’s stability,” Madden said of Steelers’ ownership. “Always re-signing everybody. That’s the lazy way out. He’s a lazy, soft owner.”

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This offseason, beyond Khan, the re-signing part ties to the Steelers’ apparent willingness to offer T.J. Watt a sizable new contract extension. How big will it be, exactly? That much is unknown. But Madden insists that if the Steelers do give Watt what he wants, it’ll be another example of the organization going too far when it comes to catering to their players.

“If I were the Steelers, I would say, ‘Listen, T.J., I would feel more comfortable if you just asked for $40 million, as opposed to wanting $40 million, because it’s more than Myles Garrett. I just don’t see what Myles Garrett has to do with us,’” Madden said. “The best thing to do for the Steelers is to make Watt play out his last year, then franchise him as necessary. That is 1,000% the best thing to do for the club.”

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I get in-depth on Khan’s trade of Minkah Fitzpatrick to Miami for Jonnu Smith and Jalen Ramsey. We discuss how the Pirates failed to score a run over the course of three games in Seattle, Paul Skenes’ early hook on Sunday, the Penguins’ activity during free agency, the Ozzy Osbourne tribute and more.