Work done in free agency has allowed Steelers to approach NFL Draft with 'clean slate'

Calls were incoming as of Monday afternoon when he met with the media, and they are expected to continue into Thursday night to gauge whether Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan is willing to trade the No. 17 overall pick.

“Are we interested in moving up, down,” Khan said of the inquiries. “Sometimes it’s just fishing for information, but it’s happening.”

Secrecy is paramount this time of the year when teams try to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the first round of the NFL Draft. Trades are discussed and last-minute information is gathered that could cause a prospect’s stock to rise or fall depending on what is — or is not — uncovered.

Khan may be in his first season as general manager, but he spent more than two decades working in the front office under predecessor Kevin Colbert, so he knows how the system — and flow of information — works heading into the draft.

And he knows how to keep things close to the vest.

Asked to evaluate strengths of the draft, he willingly named several positions — offensive line, defensive line, cornerback, wide receiver — and coach Mike Tomlin even threw in tight end as a particularly deep group.

Khan even mentioned quarterback all the while acknowledging the obvious a year after the Steelers selected Kenny Pickett with the No. 20 overall pick.

“We’re not taking a quarterback,” Khan said.

Almost every other option, though, is on the table for the Steelers heading into Thursday night’s festivities. Cornerback, tackle, defensive end and outside linebacker appear to be positions the Steelers will target in the first, second and third rounds when they also hold the Nos. 32, 49 and 80 selections.

“I think they are in a pretty good position in this draft,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said, “coming on the heels of what they already accomplished.”

For the second year in a row, the Steelers were uncharacteristically active in free agency. When they lost cornerback Cam Sutton to the Detroit Lions, they responded by signing soon-to-be 33-year-old Patrick Peterson as a bridge starter.

In deciding to change the makeup of the inside linebacker room, the Steelers signed Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts while letting Robert Spillane and Devin Bush walk. They beefed up the interior of the offensive line by signing Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig. They re-signed free agents on the defensive line and at safety. They also traded for veteran Allen Robinson to serve as a third wide receiver.

“Obviously, we’ve been able to do some things in free agency that I feel like provides a clean slate for us from a draft perspective,” Tomlin said. “We don’t have any glaring needs. We’re able to look at the board in totality and not be swayed inappropriately in any specific way. That’s just the framework of some of the things that we’ve done, and why we feel prepared and good.”

In Colbert’s final years, the Steelers showed they weren’t averse to making trades that affected their draft capital. They moved up 10 spots to get Bush with the No. 10 overall pick in 2019. Two games into that season, Colbert traded the 2020 top pick to get free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Khan, in his 11 months on the job, has shown an aggressive side as well. He signed Fitzpatrick to a long-term contract in June rather than take the traditional approach of waiting until training camp to begin negotiations. He traded wide receiver Chase Claypool to Chicago in mid-season, acquiring what would become the No. 32 overall pick.

Which is why it might not be surprising to see the Steelers trade back in the first round to acquire extra picks, something they haven’t done since 2001.

“We feel like we’re going to be in a position to draft some good players,” Khan said. “The phrase I always use — it’s always at a priority-need position. I think we’re going to have the ability to address those needs.”