PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Since Najee Harris was drafted in the first-round in 2021 he has had head coach Mike Tomlin as a major ally. Now Harris will play one final season in Pittsburgh before becoming a free agent. A look at why the Steelers may have made the decision. Did some previous comments impact Najee's future?
We've seen Tomlin and the coaching staff be patient with their first-round picks, yet Najee Harris started working with the first team from the beginning. In his second year in the league, after losing an all-time great player and long-time captain in Ben Roethlisberger, Tomlin chose Harris to be the offensive leader. At times you've seen leadership traits and at times you've seen mood swings with the former Alabama star.
Tomlin said Harris has a 'natural appetite for leadership' and yet as they continue an offensive rebuild with the Steelers, he will only be a part of it for a season. This is the point where you acknowledge that he still could sign back, Terrell Edmunds did for one year after being declined. That is a slim possibility.
When asked right after the season what Najee Harris means to them, the Steelers head coach seemed pretty clear.
"Man, he's been what we needed him to be," Tomlin said on January 18. "I read a stat, I think you know, he's1000-yard rusher three straight years and how scarce that is. And I just think that speaks to his consistency, availability. He's been really solid."
Two months later Tomlin said about Harris.
"Najee's been consistent since he's been with us," Tomlin said on March 25. "I think I saw a statistic about his 1,000-yard seasons, being in rare company and I just think that that illustrates how he's been for us."
So what has changed in that relationship?
Is it simply that they want to see how Harris would fit in an Arthur Smith offense and they would consider signing him again?
Did the comments made after the loss in Buffalo start to gain more negative traction within the Steelers front office?
"It's the rules in the building that we need to be more disciplined," Harris said on January 15 after the playoff loss. "We got to be more committed, I'm not saying we are not. But coming from a place that has more structure and just seeing, we could probably get more help in these areas and it might make a change."
Did they just cut the cord a season before they would have had to anyway? Harris was outspoken about the declining wages for running backs league-wide and said as training camp began in July.
"We don't have no security right now," Harris said as he moved into camp at St. Vincent College, making it clear at the time that his views had nothing to do with the Steelers, Omar Khan, Art Rooney or Tomlin. "You guys are using us to accomplish what you guys want. And then when it's time for us to re-up our ask for something that we think is right, you guys just turn the cheek and say, well, you have you have wear and tear. It's like, come on, now. We're like, you know what you're trying to do? You're trying to utilize us as much as you can get, as much as you can out of us for cheap."
Did the Steelers just want to avoid this being a distraction in the future?
Harris had strong opinions about offensive coordinator Matt Canada after the loss at Cleveland in November. He said the other defenses seem to know what is coming. Harris said there was a lot of stuff people don't see and he's tired of it. He felt like he was stuck.
Canada was fired two days later.
Or is it simply you could save the $6.7 million, give some of it to Jaylen Warren in a new contract and find another back? Undrafted and late-round running backs are as common as first-rounders in today's NFL. The phrase of running backs 'grow on trees' has become not only cliched but a reality for most successful NFL teams in the 2020's.
Whatever the reason or maybe a combination of all of these storylines, the last time the Steelers picked up a fifth-year option on a first-round pick was TJ Watt.
