RB Najee Harris, PIT (1 Viewer)

[TampaMike19]

Man, this guy looks pretty good and it just aint' happening. Big runs, big plays, and the Steelers still go to Warren.

 

[Faust]

RB Najee Harris on Steelers' offensive struggles: 'I'm just tired of this (expletive)'

 

[JohnnyU]

Man, this guy looks pretty good and it just aint' happening. Big runs, big plays, and the Steelers still go to Warren.

......as they should. He's a more dynamic player than Harris. Poor QB play is their biggest problem IMO.

 

[fred_1_15301]

The Steelers “star” players are all slowly coming out and publicly expressing their frustrations with the team/coaching. Things are going to get ugly in Pittsburgh very soon.

 

[Todem]

The Steelers “star” players are all slowly coming out and publicly expressing their frustrations with the team/coaching. Things are going to get ugly in Pittsburgh very soon.

They have no QB.......when you don’t have a legit NFL QB you are screwed.

 

[chad in Indy]

This RB tandum is similar to Zeke/Pollard from last year. Both very good RBs that benefit from the other's skill sets. Hard on a defense to constantly adjust to who is in the backfield. I'm not sure either would do better without the other in the rotation.

 

[urbanhack]

This RB tandum is similar to Zeke/Pollard from last year. Both very good RBs that benefit from the other's skill sets. Hard on a defense to constantly adjust to who is in the backfield. I'm not sure either would do better without the other in the rotation.

I'm pretty sure Warren would be completely fine as a team's 3 down primary back, like Eckler.

 

[chad in Indy]

This RB tandum is similar to Zeke/Pollard from last year. Both very good RBs that benefit from the other's skill sets. Hard on a defense to constantly adjust to who is in the backfield. I'm not sure either would do better without the other in the rotation.

I'm pretty sure Warren would be completely fine as a team's 3 down primary back, like Eckler.

That's what everyone said about Pollard

 

[rockaction]

This guy's dynasty value has plummeted and sailed—all at the same time!

 

[Faust]

Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) expected to play vs. Patriots

 

[menobrown]

Steelers RB Najee Harris (knee) expected to play vs. Patriots

He's arguably the most durable RB in the league, he's got that going for him at least.

 

[Faust]

Next Gen Stats
Najee Harris totaled 112 rushing yards and a TD on 26 carries (+14 RYOE) against the Ravens, his third straight game of positive RYOE.

Harris saw most of his production come on inside runs, recording 100 yards and a TD on 19 such carries.

#PITvsBAL | #HereWeGo

https://x.com/nextgenstats/status/1743802849254076744?s=61

 

[Faust]

Steelers GM Omar Khan was evasive when asked about Najee Harris’ fifth-year team option for 2025 at the Combine.

“We have until the first week in May to make a decision,” Khan said. “We have a new offensive coordinator, so that’s gonna play into the decision-making process. ... We’ve been engaging frequently — coach (Mike) Tomlin and (OC Arthur Smith) and I — we’ve kind of been talking about the offense and what the vision is for it. And we think very highly of Najee and we’ll make the decision before May 2.” That’s all good and well, but if you were planning to exercise a player’s option, you would normally just say so. We still wouldn’t be surprised if Harris’ $6.79 million option is eventually called in, but that would be a clear overpay based on his first three years of production.

 

[cdclopper]

I'm watching some of my old cuttups from last year, and Najee Harris vs Seattle has me amped right now. Bro is literally doing a 5 yard bear crawl into the endzone carrying a defender. So many times he is stopped dead to rights but somehow keeps going anyhow. He's a pittsburgh runningback if ive ever seen one.

So glad the Steelers at least kept him.

 

[JohnnyU]

I'm watching some of my old cuttups from last year, and Najee Harris vs Seattle has me amped right now. Bro is literally doing a 5 yard bear crawl into the endzone carrying a defender. So many times he is stopped dead to rights but somehow keeps going anyhow. He's a pittsburgh runningback if ive ever seen one.

So glad the Steelers at least kept him.

I think he will play for the Steelers for one more season only. Warren will spike in value once Harris is gone. I don't see the Steelers exercising their 5th year option on Harris. They must decide by 5/2.

 

[menobrown]

I'm watching some of my old cuttups from last year, and Najee Harris vs Seattle has me amped right now. Bro is literally doing a 5 yard bear crawl into the endzone carrying a defender. So many times he is stopped dead to rights but somehow keeps going anyhow. He's a pittsburgh runningback if ive ever seen one.

So glad the Steelers at least kept him.

I think he will play for the Steelers for one more season only. Warren will spike in value once Harris is gone. I don't see the Steelers exercising their 5th year option on Harris. They must decide by 5/2.

If I was doing odds on it I'd put odds they DO pick up his 5th year option in the 80% type of range. Will be surprised if they don't, it's not that expensive.

 

[Faust]

Jordan Schultz
Sources: The #Steelers are not picking up RB Najee Harris’ 5th-year option.

Last season, Harris — who earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie — became the first player in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons.

https://x.com/schultz_report/status/1786122648029970647?s=61

 

[JohnnyU]

Jordan Schultz
Sources: The #Steelers are not picking up RB Najee Harris’ 5th-year option.

Last season, Harris — who earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie — became the first player in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons.

https://x.com/schultz_report/status/1786122648029970647?s=61

Wheels up for Warren in 2025. I was hoping they wouldn’t pick up his 5th year option.

 

[Dez]

Jordan Schultz
Sources: The #Steelers are not picking up RB Najee Harris’ 5th-year option.

Last season, Harris — who earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie — became the first player in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons.

https://x.com/schultz_report/status/1786122648029970647?s=61

Wheels up for Warren in 2025. I was hoping they wouldn’t pick up his 5th year option.

Jaylen Warren is a RFA after this year so the would need to resign him or match.

I assume Pittsburgh will just draft another RB

 

[Mister CIA]

Projected week 1 starter for me.

 

[JohnnyU]

Projected week 1 starter for me.

I agree for 2024. In 2025 not so much.

 

[TartanLion]

If the price is right he’s a buy ( can say that about anyone I suppose ). Upgraded O line in draft, Arthur Smith, better Qb play hopefully etc etc

 

[ffmail4me]

No reason to pickup his 5th year option when he's backup to a much better RB in Warren.

 

[JohnnyU]

No reason to pickup his 5th year option when he's backup to a much better RB in Warren.

There were many here who thought they would pick up his 5th year option. Harris looked good down the stretch last year and looked better than Warren the last part of 2024. However, I'm hopeful it will be the Warren show in 2025, but they could draft one of the stud RBs in 2025 and there are several.

 

[brewer]

If I were a RB in today's NFL, I would probably be trying to gather all RBs to have a walk out. When the salary of your position group is averaging about as much as punters, the salary correction has gone way too far.

Not saying that I think Najee deserves 7M a year, but in a league where Christian McCaffery is certainly one of your brightest stars, and he is the highest paid RB at ~16M, but even he doesn't make as much as guys such as Jerry Jeudy, Chris Godwin, Diontae Johnson, etc., something is wrong. You're telling me that AJ Brown is twice as valuable to a team as Christian McCaffery? I just don't see it.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

You're telling me that AJ Brown is twice as valuable to a team as Christian McCaffery?

I don't think that's what the market is telling us. It'd probably be more accurate to say the market's telling us "We think WR X is twice as likely to play well into his 30s than RB Y, so we're willing to pay WR X more."

RB is a young man's game. The league finally figured out that paying a guy who gets routinely pounded 300+ times a season big paper after 5-6 years of that abuse is typically a recipe for being disappointed. Yeah, you get outliers (and some of them are big ones). But typically it's better to either spread that money/usage out over multiple players or just hit the reset button, then get another 21 year old to start the cycle over again rather than pay the well-used 27-28 year old.

In Harris' particular case I don't think it matters much. He's one of "Tomlin's Guys™", so I expect they're going to attempt to extend him now instead of next year, and that's the reason they declined the option. I don't necessarily agree with that tact (which is to say, I don't agree with it at all. I wouldn't have drafted him in the 1st to begin with), but his guys usually get taken care of.

The right move is for them to let him walk next year, allow another team to experience his decline, and pair another young guy with Warren to start the cycle over. Rinse repeat until you fall into a "generational" type that breaks the paradigm. I just don't think that's what they're going to do.

 

[brewer]

RB is a young man's game. The league finally figured out that paying a guy who gets routinely pounded 300+ times a season big paper after 5-6 years of that abuse is typically a recipe for being disappointed. Yeah, you get outliers (and some of them are big ones). But typically it's better to either spread that money/usage out over multiple players or just hit the reset button, then get another 21 year old to start the cycle over again rather than pay the well-used 27-28 year old.

This is exactly my point though, RBs get pounded into the ground on rookie contracts and then don't even bother getting paid when that initial contract is up. And even the generational RB talents don't get paid what a decent WR gets.

I understand why it is happening, but if I were a RB, I would be trying my hardest to find a better way. Increase the rookie RB pay scale, guarantee RBs 5 year contracts or shorten rookie RB contracts to 3 years, I don't know, try something because at the moment, they are getting screwed all the way around.

 

[JohnnyU]

RB is a young man's game. The league finally figured out that paying a guy who gets routinely pounded 300+ times a season big paper after 5-6 years of that abuse is typically a recipe for being disappointed. Yeah, you get outliers (and some of them are big ones). But typically it's better to either spread that money/usage out over multiple players or just hit the reset button, then get another 21 year old to start the cycle over again rather than pay the well-used 27-28 year old.

This is exactly my point though, RBs get pounded into the ground on rookie contracts and then don't even bother getting paid when that initial contract is up. And even the generational RB talents don't get paid what a decent WR gets.

I understand why it is happening, but if I were a RB, I would be trying my hardest to find a better way. Increase the rookie RB pay scale, guarantee RBs 5 year contracts or shorten rookie RB contracts to 3 years, I don't know, try something because at the moment, they are getting screwed all the way around.

I could get onboard with making the rookie contracts for RBs shorter given the short shelf-life of a RB.

 

[Faust]

Brooke Pryor
It’s my understanding the Steelers are still open to doing business with Najee Harris, who’s the first Steelers RB to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons, in the future.

For now, the Steelers are in a wait-and-see mode.

https://x.com/bepryor/status/1786124550708564319?s=61