The Pittsburgh Steelers, under general manager Kevin Colbert from 2000 to 2021, were one of the quietest and most shrewd franchises in the league when it came to free agency and trades. Not so under new GM Omar Khan.
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This offseason alone, the “Khan Artist” has made a handful of major moves Colbert never would have dreamed of. He traded a second-rounder for DK Metcalf, traded George Pickens for a third-rounder, signed polarizing QB Aaron Rodgers after a long courtship, and on Monday, they made a blockbuster trade sending star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and a fifth-rounder to the Dolphins for CB Jalen Ramsey, TE Jonnu Smith, and a seventh-rounder.
Needless to say, the news rocked the NFL world, which had just begun to enter hibernation with a month left until training camp. It’s a tough one to decipher, as it’s not clear what either franchise is trying to do in 2025. Nonetheless, pundits like Robert Griffin III took the opportunity to hype up the upcoming 2025 season after the trade:
“The AFC North will be ABSOLUTE FIRE THIS YEAR. Which QB1, WR1, CB1-2 are you taking?
- Steelers- Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay Jr.
- Ravens- Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, Jaire Alexander, Marlon Humphrey
- Bengals- Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, DJ Turner II, Cam Taylor-Britt
- Browns- Joe Flacco/Kenny Pickett/Dillon Gabriel/Shedeur Sanders, Jerry Jeudy, Denzel Ward, Martin Emerson Jr.”
The AFC North will be ABSOLUTE FIRE THIS YEAR.
Which QB1,WR1, CB1-2 are you taking?
Steelers- Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay Jr.
Ravens-Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, Jaire Alexander, Marlon Humphrey
Bengals-Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, DJ Turner II, Cam…
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) June 30, 2025
There are definitely some big stars there, but can you think of a more random four-player grouping than QB-WR-CB-CB? We’ve never seen anyone compare teams based on their QB-WR-CB-CB quartet, but here we are in the quiet months of the NFL calendar.
The Ravens and Bengals will certainly be exciting. The Steelers have exciting names, but how they will fare in 2025 is anyone’s guess. Apart from Metcalf, all those Pittsburgh names are over the hill. Not to mention the fact that Jalen Ramsey likely won’t even be Pittsburgh’s CB1. Youngster Joey Porter Jr. has claimed that role over the last two years.
RGIII’s followers had a variety of opinions on the topic. One agreed with us that it was a rather random player grouping: “I can’t believe you left out the RB in this situation.”
Others wanted to sow chaos: “Browns – Because why not?” while others had ominous predictions: “Only one of these teams will make the playoffs.”
The most reasonable answer was surely this one: “Going Ravens then Bengals. But it’d be so cool to see the Steelers make a run. See if Rogers can wash off the sh*t show that was the Jets debacle.”
As far as the actual trade goes, it’s a confusing one. Khan has been making a lot of moves for the Steelers this offseason, but seemingly with no rhyme or reason. They let Justin Fields walk, then had to wait three months to sign Aaron Rodgers. They traded for Metcalf only to trade away Pickens, leaving the WR room at the same level as before the moves.
Now, he’s traded one aging DB for another. While we love the inclusion of Smith in there, the fact that Pittsburgh had to give up a fifth-rounder to acquire the 30-year-old Ramsey while the Dolphins gave up only a seventh-rounder to get the 28-year-old Fitzpatrick is strange.
Smith moves the needle slightly on offense, but you could argue this deal makes Pittsburgh worse on defense. Unless there’s some elite free safety hiding in their facility that we don’t know about.
