In a shocking move on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers elected to not pick up former first-round draft pick Najee Harris’ fifth-year option.
The Steelers, who have made no secret in wanting to be a physical, running football team, declining to pick up Harris’ extension signals they may have doubts on his play moving forward. Or at least, that’s what NBC Sports’ Mike Florio believes.
“I think the idea is, we don’t know how he’s going to feel, how we’re gonna feel a year from now,” Florio said on Pro Football Talk. “He could physically reach his limits this year…You don’t see teams bet the under with their players, but they’re hedging on the side of [$]6.9 million is going to be a bad investment.”
It’s a tough decision for the Steelers. On one hand, Florio is right. Harris has a ton of tread on his tires. In his each of his three NFL seasons, Harris ranked in the top 10 in carries. He currently sits at 25th among active NFL players in rushing attempts with everyone above him having at least two more seasons under their belt.
Harris’ rushing attempts per year have progressively gone down over the last few years, but next season he will almost definitely crack 1,000 for his career. Add his back-to-back 200-plus attempt seasons at the University of Alabama and you see where the concern begins to arise.
That’s the bad side of things, but the flipside is that he has been productive in his usage.
As the bell-cow back for the team, Harris has logged three 1,000-yard rushing seasons to kick off his career, becoming the first Steelers running back to ever do so. He’s also been a touchdown machine, logging 28 already in his career.
It’s only under a microscope that you begin to raise an eyebrow at his efficiency, rushing for a career 3.9 yards per carry, but much of that can be chalked up to poor offensive line play.
If Harris succeeds in the new Arthur Smith system, Florio says the Steelers are in a good predicament, and can then extend him, something the Steelers reportedly have interest in doing.
Either way, we may be headed down a similar route as the Las Vegas Raiders and Josh Jacobs a few seasons ago after the team also didn’t pick up his option. What resulted from it was the best season of Jacobs career and a one-year, $12 million deal that followed.
Let’s hope that Harris also enjoys a career season to maybe get an even better deal than Jacobs.
