Kevin Colbert said he told president Art Rooney II and coach Mike Tomlin last May he would step down in his full-time role as general manager after the 2022 draft, acknowledging it might be time for a change, both personally for his family and professionally for the organization.
"It's something my family and I have discussed really over the last few years, and that's why we've been asking to do the year-to-year contracts," Colbert said on Monday, his first public comments since it was announced he would step down after 21 years with the organization. "It's time from a personal standpoint and I think it's time from professional standpoint.
"We always have to be open to new ways to do things and more current ways. I encourage my younger scouts to push me in that regard. The better solution might be outside the organization. We have to be open to try to stay ahead of the game."
Colbert said he's not going to use the word "retirement," nor does he want to because "I may or may not have a role" with the team. He is expected to remain in a reduced role when his contract expires after the draft and a new general manager is in place.
He said the Steelers have been interviewing a flurry of GM possibilities — 10 already — because they are allowed to talk to potential candidates without permission from another team prior to March 1. Colbert is involved with Rooney in all the interviews. He said Tomlin will not sit in on the interviews until the Steelers conduct a second round after the draft.
"If there's a way I can help and not hinder the next person, we're going to be open to that," Colbert said. "But nothing has been decided nor will it be till after we get through the interview process."
Meantime, Colbert said he can't remember the last time the Steelers had this much excess salary cap space heading into an offseason. He hesitated saying the team will be more aggressive in free agency because that has not been the Steelers' history. But he seemed to leave the door open the Steelers could be amenable to spending money on outside free agents.
The cap is expected to be set at approximately $208 million, more than $25 million above last year's flattened cap of $182.5 million. Right now, the Steelers have cap space of $28.7 million, according to the overthecap.com.
"I think we can comfortably say we will have more salary cap room this year than we have had," Colbert said. "I can't even remember when we had any excess room. We're anticipating having more room going into this process."
Colbert also said the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger creates a "different agenda" for the Steelers heading into free agency and the draft. But he added the Steelers' plan right now is to have Mason Rudolph as their starting quarterback in 2022.
"We have confidence that Mason Rudolph, if we started today, would be our starter and we're excited to see where that can go," Colbert said. "We're excited to see what's next for Mason."
Colbert said the Steelers will explore "every possible avenue" about adding a quarterback to the roster. He said there is "good quality available" in this year's draft crop, just not as many possibilities as recent years.
"But it is what it is," Colbert said. "We had a great look at a lot of the top quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl. We saw them all."
