PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn't have a clear answer as to why the team didn't pick up the fifth-year option on tailback Najee Harris as team OTAs opened on Tuesday. Tomlin also discussed adding a wide receiver and moving tackles around.
Najee option
Asked about the team deciding to decline the 2021 first-round pick's option and how that reflected on how they felt about him?
"It could reflect a lot of things," Tomlin said after workouts. "There is probably some depth to those waters, sometimes it's positional related. There is a business component of this and of all decisions that we make."
"There are layers to it. I'm not going to try to characterize it in simplicity. That would probably be inappropriate."
Read into that what you will, the two talked during the workout that Harris attended on the South Side.
QB
Tomlin said he's learning what the new quarterbacks are like and he's enjoyed his interactions with Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen so far.
"It's been a fun process to get to know them," Tomlin said. "The way you get to know someone professionally is to share experiences. The things we are doing out here are critical to get to know."
Wilson, 35, and Fields, 25, have handled themselves well according to the Steelers head coach. He said both are or were franchise-type quarterbacks or he explained it this way.
"They've gotten out of their cars in the morning and worn the responsibility of being that guy for a franchise," Tomlin said.
WR addition?
From Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, Scotty Miller, Roman Wilson, there are a number of new receivers. Is it the Steelers desire to add a potentially more impactful number two to George Pickens?
"I'm pleased with the work we are getting from that group," Tomlin said. "I like the overall trajectory of it. We got some young and developing players. We have some guys that are excited what they are capable of."
"We are always open to adding to that group and any group."
Right or left side
One of the things Steelers fans are wondering is how the tackle situation will play out with the team adding a second straight first-round pick. Will they move Broderick Jones back to the left? Will Jones stay on the right? Does Troy Fautanu start? What about Dan Moore?
"I'm not overly concerned about it at this juncture," Tomlin explained. "We are developing skills relative to our position so left and right is less important. The same thing is going on at the corner-D-Jack (Donte Jackson) and Joey (Porter, Junior) flipped a little bit today, others flipped a little bit."
"Particularly this time of year, we got to be open to flopping people to not becoming one dimensional in terms of right and left so that we give ourselves flexibility to put our best people on the grass when it is appropriate, but it is not appropriate right now. We are at the infancy of this thing."
