Future of Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert Still Undecided

Following the conclusion of an 8-8 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have quite the off-season ahead of them. The team is working diligently with Ben Roethlisberger to have him ready for 2020, while also prepping for another important draft to be completed later in April. On the top of many obstacles for Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert exists a looming free agency period that could see key veterans walk away in search of better bank accounts.

However, one important contract extension has been extremely quiet around the team: Colbert's current contract is currently set to expire after the 2020 NFL Draft.

Colbert will be gearing up for his 20th season with the Steelers, effectively becoming GM in 2010 after spending ten years with the organization as Director of Football Operations prior to his title promotion (Colbert became the first "official" general manager in team history). Before joining the Steelers in 2000, Colbert spent nearly 17 seasons as a scout for the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions. Colbert's resume reigns impressive, including two Lombardi trophies during his time with the Steelers.

Colbert has made quite the impact as Pittsburgh's primary decision-maker, for better or worse. Colbert has seen extremely bright days while maneuvering draft day, as he traded up in the 2003 NFL Draft to grab Troy Polamalu a year before drafting Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Drafting Hall of Fame players in back-to-back seasons deserves some sort of recognition.

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Yet for all the positive Colbert has contributed, that isn't to say his record is unscathed. For every phenomenal pick, we can locate an equally poor selection (Jarvis Jones, Artie Burns, Evander Hood, etc.) on his end.

As far as trades go, the same sentiment could be carried here as well, although Colbert's positive track record far outweighs the negative. Between trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick and somehow finding value for Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown, Colbert has been somewhat of a miracle worker for the Steelers front office.

Before the 2019 season, team president Art Rooney II told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Colbert opted to wait until after the 2019 season to make a decision on his future.

“At this stage of the game, he’s really not looking to do any long-term planning,” said Rooney. “We talked and we agreed he’d rather wait until after the season to talk about the contract.”

Now, Colbert sits with a full off-season ahead of him before truly having to make a decision. Last July, Colbert made it known that at the age of 62, he was taking his duties year-to-year.

“We want to make those decisions on a year-to-year basis from this point forward. I’m appreciative that Art was accepting of that" Colbert told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

“From a personal standpoint that’s where me, my wife and our family are. That’s all there is to it. I still love what I do. As long as I still love what I do I can see myself continuing to do it. But we just want to do it year-to-year.”

Although rumors began swirling late in 2019 that the Carolina Panthers were interested in bringing over Colbert, some believe there is no merit to that, and with the recent hiring of Matt Rhule, it's hard to imagine the Panthers moving forward with Colbert still in mind.

With a year-to-year mentality, it's clear Colbert is nearing his end in his current position. Will the current state of the team be enough for Colbert to stick around and make another serious run for Pittsburgh's seventh Super Bowl? While that remains to be seen, there's no downplaying the significance of the 2020 off-season, for reasons that truly may shake the Steelers from top to bottom.