Omar Khan Just Solved the Steelers Future Franchise Quarterback Problem
How will the Pittsburgh Steelers get their next franchise quarterback?
After losing to Jaylen Hurts, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Jackson again in successive weeks to end the 2024 season, that has become the most pressing question surrounding the Steelers.
But in many ways, it has also become a back-of-the-shelf question this offseason, because that player has clearly not been available to the team this offseason.
There is a paucity of options in the 2025 NFL Draft class, even in a trade-up scenario, and the free agent market was predictably slim, as well. On the first day of free agency, former Minnesota Vikings backup Sam Darnold signed the top deal, a three-year contract worth $100 million. That’s nowhere near franchise quarterback money.
The Steelers also haven’t shown any indication that they are ready to ready to take a step back and reevaluate their attempt to compete earnestly every season, meaning there wasn’t a lot of hope for the team to land the kind of top draft pick that leads to a potential franchise quarterback, even in a future year.
They can’t draft one. They can’t sign one. They probably won’t even be able to draft one next year. So how are the Steelers ever going to get another franchise quarterback?
General manager Omar Khan seems like he honed in on the answer on the first day of free agency on Tuesday, and it was more about what he didn’t do than what the did.
The Steelers let six free agents walk out the door on Tuesday. At least five of those players are expected to be countable for as compensatory draft pick slot.
NFL compensatory draft picks are assigned by a convoluted formula. Each countable player lost or added is evaluated compared to the rest of the league in terms of salary and playing time. The top group of those players get third-round comp pick slots, the second group gets fourth-round slots, and so on and so forth.
The more players you lose to high-priced contract, the more picks you gain. Additions cancel out subtractions, no matter how minor. So one seventh-round addition negates a third-round loss.
By letting six free agents walk out the door, Khan has created the potential for a serious draft haul in terms of 2026 compensatory picks. According to Over the Cap, the Steelers are estimated to be eligible to receive a third-round pick for Dan Moore Jr., a fourth rounder for Justin Fields, a fifth or a sixth for Najee Harris, a sixth for James Daniels, a sixth for Donte Jackson and a seventh for Elandon Roberts.
That’s the potential for six additional draft picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. They could get more if Russell Wilson and/or Mike Williams sign elsewhere. Now, the Steelers won’t actually get six extra picks. They already canceled Roberts’ pick by signing Malik Harrison from the Baltimore Ravens.
But Khan has also been making moves that don’t impact the formula. The trade for DK Metcalf won’t count against the Steelers’ comp picks. Neither will signing Darius Slay, because he is going to be released by the Philadelphia Eagles, or Aaron Rodgers, because he is going to be released by the New York Jets.
There are plenty of other moves in that vein that Khan could continue to make as free agency moves forward on Tuesday. He could trade for Joe Milton III as a backup quarterback and either trade for or wait for Cooper Kupp to be cut by the Los Angeles Rams, for example.
As things stand on Tuesday morning, the Steelers are set to net an additional third, four, fifth and two sixth-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. They won’t get all of those. They will sign other players — and can’t have more than four, anyway.
Let’s say the Steelers once again go 10-7 in 2025, and they’re once again drafting around pick No. 20 in 2026. If they trade the extra draft picks that they gained on Monday to move up in the class, according to the Fitzgerald-Spielberger NFL Draft Trade Value Chart, they would be able to jump from No. 20 to No. 4 — leaving the rest of their usual draft class intact.
The draft is in Pittsburgh next year. The 2026 quarterback class looks strong, led by Texas scion Arch Manning, Penn State’s Drew Allar, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava.
The Steelers just secured access to one of them by the way they handled free agency on Tuesday, basically regardless of who ends up playing for them in 2025.