New Steelers general manager Omar Khan has been on the job for a short period, but he has been able to enjoy good success in signing some of his star players, such as Diontae Johnson, Chris Boswell and Minkah Fitzpatrick.
With two preseason games in the books and one remaining Sunday against the Lions, his hiring abilities will be put to the test before the Steelers set their 53-man roster by Aug. 30. Assistant general manager Andy Weidl, Khan’s top hire who is in charge of the personnel department, is going to have to find gems in the free-agent market to help out the roster.
Of course, that will have to be OK’d by Mike Tomlin and Khan, but that would be just a formality.
What the past month of training camp and the first two preseason games have revealed is that the Steelers need outside help at offensive line and outside linebacker. You could make an argument for inside linebacker, as well, but that would be third on the list.
After another poor performance from the O-line Saturday night in Jacksonville, that needs to be the focus of an upgrade. The free-agent market is light, and with a plethora of injuries around the league along the offensive line, relying on one of the other 31 teams to cut a viable pickup option might be unrealistic.
The outside linebacker position needs veteran depth, and a guy like Trey Flowers could fill that hole.
Whoever it is, the initial 53-man roster that you see Aug. 30 won’t be what they go into Cincinnati with two weeks later. The Steelers need to get down to 80 players by Tuesday and 53 a week later.
Here is where they stand after two preseason games.