The steady and stable Pittsburgh Steelers are getting some love from NFL scouts. Inside The League’s Neil Stratton, one of the best in the business when it comes to all things scouting and agent-related, polled a group of scouts to rank football’s best front offices. The Steelers didn’t land in the top spot but cracked the top 10, finishing seventh.
Based on the poll, here was the top 10 teams.
1. Baltimore Ravens
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Seattle Seahawks
4. Philadelphia Eagles
5. Green Bay Packers
6. Buffalo Bills
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Kansas City Chiefs
9. Detroit Lions
10. Minnesota Vikings
Most of the commentary was concentrated on the top five teams. Baltimore was praised for its own brand of consistency, making a seamless general manager transition from Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta. They’ve made the playoffs in five of the last six seasons.
Pittsburgh received just a few notes in Stratton’s newsletter, which noted it steadiness and ability to overcome a turbulent quarterback situation post Ben Roethlisberger. Here are two separate comments from the scouts’ feedback.
– “Pittsburgh has been steady Eddie.”
– “Pittsburgh another long track record situation, and the fact they’ve done well despite mishandling QB is astonishing.”
Though the Steelers had their own general manager change, they stayed in-house to replace Kevin Colbert. Omar Khan was tabbed as his successor, their “cap guy” hired on Valentine Day’s in 2001, just a year after Colbert was hired as director of football operations. Like Colbert, who was given the GM title in 20111, Khan has been praised for his ability to draft while showing a bit more aggressiveness in free agency. The Steelers have remained a regular season competitive bunch but are searching for their first playoff win since Khan took over ahead of the 2022 season.
While the head of the front office remains a familiar face, the Steelers have overhauled the nuts and bolts of their front office. More changes came after this draft cycle with longtime college scout Phil Kreidler retiring after 33 years with the organization. Several outsiders were brought in on the pro and college personnel side. Now, most of the front office are Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl hires, not holdovers from Colbert’s era.
Separately, Stratton put a poll out to fans. They voted the option that included the Steelers, along with the Ravens, 49ers, Eagles, and Chiefs, as the best group of front office personnel with nearly 40 percent of the vote.