Mark Madden: Omar Khan's work with Steelers has been impeccable, but don't get carried away

The notion that the Kendrick Green trade was some revolutionary display of general managing by the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Omar Khan is a bit silly, just like so much about the team’s hype-clogged preseason.

Khan traded a marginal asset for another marginal asset: Green to Houston for a sixth-round pick. The trade’s big winner was Green, who will get opportunities in Houston that the Steelers rightly weren’t giving.

Green’s stint with the Steelers was mostly rotten. Just ask podcaster Ben Roethlisberger, who basically said, “I love Kendrick, but he stinks.” Roethlisberger’s favorite brew is likely half craft beer, half truth serum: An honesty shandy.

One local pundit said the Green trade outdid the Penguins’ deal for defenseman Erik Karlsson.

That swap rid the Penguins of four unwanted contracts, fetched the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman and somehow jammed everything in under the Penguins’ creaking salary cap. The clear advantage appears to go to Penguins GM Kyle Dubas but, as several on X reminded, “It’s Steelers season, and nobody cares about hockey.”

Khan’s legit big moment was trading malcontent wideout Chase Claypool for a second-round draft pick that turned out to be cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who’s set to start as a rookie.

Khan’s overall work has been impeccable. New eyes can rejuvenate. Khan’s have, along with those of assistant GM Andy Weidl. The Steelers are a better team with a different feel.

Khan’s big weapon is his new nickname, “the Khan Artist,” which people delight in using. Khan could toss horse excrement at a wall, then fall down a flight of stairs. Steelers stooges would immediately coo, “Oooh, the Khan Artist strikes again!”

Issues both real and imagined abound as the season approaches.

The running backs still don’t get it.

Nobody wants to trade for Indianapolis back Jonathan Taylor. Nobody wants to pay him what he wants, either. Yet the media’s ex-jocks clamor for fair treatment.

Fair treatment is whatever the market dictates and the CBA allows. Big money has passed by the running back position. Backs are disposable. That won’t change, maybe not ever.

Taylor has one year left on a contract that would pay $4.3 million. My advice to Taylor is to honor that pact and get every cent he can while he can. If not, there’s always barber college.

Matt Araiza, the “Punt God,” is a football player who’s got a legitimate complaint.

Araiza was picked in the sixth round of the 2022 draft by Buffalo. He got cut after being wrongly accused of sexual assault while attending San Diego State. (Criminal charges weren’t filed, though a civil suit remains open. Araiza filed a countersuit for defamation.)

Araiza comes by his nickname honestly: He set the NCAA record for average punt yardage. He launches bombs.

Araiza is good enough to punt in the NFL. Prosecutors concluded he wasn’t present when the alleged rape occurred.

Why doesn’t Araiza have a job? His beef is more valid than Taylor’s.

That’s the problem with cancel culture. It’s difficult to un-cancel, even when it’s called for. (Part of Araiza’s dilemma: He’s only a punter. Teams don’t want to absorb heat for a punter.)

Damar Hamlin made Buffalo’s roster. The third-year safety was a sixth-round pick in 2021. He’s a backup, likely destined to spend his career as a marginal player.

But Hamlin couldn’t get cut this season. Not after suffering a form of cardiac arrest and nearly dying on the field during the Bills’ game at Cincinnati this past Jan. 2.

Hamlin has made a full recuperation and, obviously, is cleared to play. Releasing him would be awful PR. He was a lock to make the Bills.

Hamlin hails from McKees Rocks, Central Catholic High School and Pitt. He’s a great story, not least locally, and by all accounts a great person. Hamlin has used his recovery to do good for many.

But he’s OK now. Perhaps it’s time to stop treating him like a walking miracle and let him be a plain old football player.