Speaker 1: First calendar year as a GM. Just give me kind
Speaker 1: of your thoughts and your assessment.
Speaker 2: Sure, Max, obviously I enjoyed the process, but unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 2: we we I was the season ended with us watching
Speaker 2: the Chiefs.
Speaker 3: Play and win in the Super Bowl, which is.
Speaker 2: Where we want to be. So that's disappointing. But you know,
Speaker 2: it was a good experience. It was it was fun,
Speaker 2: love the people we did it with, but we understand
Speaker 2: we got to get better here in your two.
Speaker 1: You know, when you think about the twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: draft class and kind of it looks promising. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've saw a lot of guys contribute early and often,
Speaker 1: especially towards the end of the year. I think we
Speaker 1: saw a good amount of those young kids. Was there
Speaker 1: anything that kind of stood out in this process at
Speaker 1: the combine that kind of changed opinion or helped enhance
Speaker 1: it from this whole entire process.
Speaker 3: You know, we, Max, we were.
Speaker 2: We take this time in Indie and you know Mobile
Speaker 2: the East West.
Speaker 3: We take this time seriously.
Speaker 2: We try to identify the right type of players Steelers,
Speaker 2: and we think we did that with our draft class.
Speaker 2: I think that was encouraging about our draft classes that
Speaker 2: I just felt like the more they play, the better
Speaker 2: they got, and that's what you want out of a
Speaker 2: rookie and a young player, and that's encouraging. So we
Speaker 2: expect these guys to make an even bigger jump from
Speaker 2: year one to year two.
Speaker 1: That's always the process. I mean when you sit down
Speaker 1: with them, right because you have the train station, you
Speaker 1: have the actual team interviews, Like what are you looking
Speaker 1: for in those type of interviews, because you know those
Speaker 1: guys are been coaching everything, But what are some of
Speaker 1: the traces you're looking for in those interviews?
Speaker 2: Really to get to know them and understand them and
Speaker 2: get an idea of how we would benefit them and
Speaker 2: how they would benefit us.
Speaker 3: You know, just really getting to know them and as
Speaker 3: I mentioned.
Speaker 2: Earlier, identifying whether they're Steelers and if they can make
Speaker 2: it better and help us win a championship.
Speaker 1: Are there any position groups that stand out to you
Speaker 1: as being particularly deep this year than probably the year's
Speaker 1: past to the combine, any group that stands out to you.
Speaker 2: Max, I'll tell you this, this is really a good
Speaker 2: group of players here this year. You know, we last
Speaker 2: year was outstanding. I'm fortunate, you know, this is the
Speaker 2: second draft, my second draft, and it's another really good
Speaker 2: group of players. You know, when you see the some
Speaker 2: really good corners, some fun playmaking receivers out there.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm excited about all the big men.
Speaker 2: As you know, big men that can play good football,
Speaker 2: like yourself, don't really grow on trees. So I'm excited
Speaker 2: about the group that's here, both offensively and defensively. And
Speaker 2: you know, ever since I got this job, I said,
Speaker 2: I I prioritize those how important the offensive line and
Speaker 2: the defensive line are.
Speaker 3: Are to me.
Speaker 2: So you know, the running backs is a good group,
Speaker 2: the inside linebackers, you know, there's some good edge rushers.
Speaker 3: It's it's it's really a good group. And I'm I'm
Speaker 3: looking forward to.
Speaker 2: Getting continue to get to know these guys and get
Speaker 2: in April.
Speaker 1: Now, I know you do have a decision to make,
Speaker 1: and it's around May second. I believe when you have
Speaker 1: to make the decision for Najie, you.
Speaker 3: Have a fifth year option.
Speaker 1: Just kind of what goes into that process of making
Speaker 1: decision whether you want to pick up a fifth year
Speaker 1: or not a fifth year for for a player.
Speaker 2: Sure, lots of conversation and the unique part about this
Speaker 2: decision is that we have a new offensive coordinator. You know,
Speaker 2: the system is going to change a little bit. So
Speaker 2: we're continuing our conversations with Arthur Smith. And you know,
Speaker 2: we like Nausey a great deal. He's he's a stealer,
Speaker 2: he represents as well on the field and off the field,
Speaker 2: and you know, we'll continue the conversation and we'll make
Speaker 2: that decision before May second.
Speaker 1: And kind of along those same lines, I mean, there's
Speaker 1: only one quarterback on the roster. There's no surprise there
Speaker 1: that's that's available. Just kind of what's your how do
Speaker 1: you how do you look at addressing or the process
Speaker 1: in which you go about filling that because obviously when
Speaker 1: you go in to camp, you want to have four
Speaker 1: guys on that.
Speaker 2: List, right, I mean you mentioned we have one under
Speaker 2: contract right now, so we have we have some work
Speaker 2: to do. You know, there's there's fortunately there's different ways to.
Speaker 3: Uh to fill those roster spots. Right.
Speaker 2: We can utilize free agency, the draft, there's you know, always.
Speaker 3: Trade conversations going on.
Speaker 2: So we'll utilize every one of those avenues to try
Speaker 2: to identify the right.
Speaker 3: People for us.
Speaker 1: Well, one of those guys in particular, Mason Rudolph obviously
Speaker 1: finished the year for us, had a good ending to
Speaker 1: the season. But you know, has there been and I
Speaker 1: know Art Rooney also said that he would like to
Speaker 1: have him back. How have y'all started that process? When
Speaker 1: does that process start for checking for Mason?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we've we've already. Mason knows we want to back.
Speaker 2: I've had conversation with his representative and those conversations continue,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, awesome, Omar, thank you very much. We've
Speaker 1: been sitting down with Omar Khan, general manager of the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers,