Steelers Now
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks it would be wise for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on from running back Najee Harris. Harris has never been known to be a speedster, his longest career run is only 32 yards. Jeremiah thinks Harris just lacks the explosiveness that the Steelers need in Arthur Smith’s offense.
“They’re just not fast enough. Najee Harris, I know he’s a fan favorite because he’s tough, falls forward, and he’s physical,” Jeremiah said on the Shek Show. “He’s got no juice. If you’re going to be a team reliant on the run game, you’ve got to be able to pop some explosive runs. That’s not 10-15 yards, that’s 50 or 60 yards.”
During his season-ending press conference, Mike Tomlin praised Harris for his consistency over his four years in Pittsburgh. On the surface, it sounded like a departing salute.
“Naj has had an awesome four years here,” Tomlin said. “I understand that he is a free agent. Again, it’s at the very beginnings of that process in terms of us assessing what we’re capable of doing or what we desire to do. And I’d imagine it’s the same thing from a player’s perspective.
“But rest assured, we’ve had a good experience with him and obviously the ridiculous consistency in his performance in terms of producing four straight 1,000-yard seasons speaks for itself.”
Harris will have the chance to test his value on the open market this offseason with his rookie deal expiring.
According to Spotrac, Harris is projected to receive a three-year, $27.5 million deal on the open market. That would put the 26-year-old’s per year average at about $9.2 million, which would be the eighth highest in the NFL, behind Cardinals’ James Conner ($9.5M per year) and in front of Lions’ David Montgomery ($9.125M per year).
The Steelers could still decide to bring back Harris for the 2025 season and beyond. President Art Rooney II recently left the door open to a potential return.
“Najee’s a good player and we’ll evaluate whether we can bring him back. He’s going to have choices, too. It’s a position that is important to us,” Rooney said. “Whether it’s Najee or somebody else, it’s going to be an important position.”
However, that still seems very unlikely after the team declined Harris’ $6.79 million fifth-year option in May. Other teams know it, too, as some players have already begun recruiting Harris.
So where could Najee Harris land in free agency? Former NFL running back and fellow Bay Area native Maurice Jones-Drew thinks Denver would be a perfect fit for Harris.
“The Broncos haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Phillip Lindsay in 2019. Harris, meanwhile, became the third player in the past 20 seasons to hit the 1K mark in each of his first four NFL campaigns (joining Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson),” Jones-Drew wrote. “Sean Payton’s offense has steadily improved over his first two seasons in Denver, and the future looks bright with Bo Nix at quarterback. What’s missing...
