Over the last few weeks, the split between Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren when it comes to snap counts and touches for the Pittsburgh Steelers is getting smaller and smaller.
That was again the case on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers as Warren, on 15 carries, ran his way into a career day, finishing with 101 yards on 15 carries in the 23-19 win over Green Bay, nearly splitting touches evenly with Harris. The third-year running back finished with 19 touches (16 carries, three receptions) to 17 touches (15 carries, two receptions) for Warren in the win over the Packers.
Offensively, the Steelers ran for 205 yards on the day with two rushing touchdowns, bashing away at a top-10 run defense in Green Bay.
That shift has been real from the Steelers’ offensive point of view, and it could play into future decisions made by the Steelers, at least according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac.
Appearing on the KDKA Steelers Kickoff Show Sunday ahead of the matchup against the Packers, Dulac stated that when it comes to the decision to pick up a fifth-year option on Harris this offseason, he doesn’t believe the Steelers will do it.
“The key’s going to come next year with Najee Harris, whether the Steelers want to pick up that option year of his contract, which is going to cost him a lot of money, in that fifth year. I don’t expect them to do that,” Dulac said of Harris’ fifth-year option. “Mike Tomlin will want them to do that so we’ll see who wins out in that battle, but Jaylen Warren will come through it unscathed and he will be the guy because they know they can rely on him.
“I think he has a future with the team.”
Of course, Dulac stated this before the game against the Packers, but based on Warren’s performance against Green Bay — coupled with what he’s done this season — the likelihood that the Steelers don’t pick up Harris’ fifth-year option seems to be increasing by the week.
Harris’ option amount for 2025 is projected to be $7.098 million, as has been previously reported here at Steelers Depot.
Though Dulac doesn’t expect the Steelers to pick up Harris’ fifth-year option, there’s a good chance that the Steelers do just that, considering how relatively affordable that fifth-year option is for Harris, coupled with the way the Steelers are built to play. They very clearly want to run the football, control the game at the line of scrimmage, not make mistakes offensively and lean on their defense to win games.
So far this season, and even in the second half last season, the Steelers have had quite a bit of success playing that style of football. Harris has been a big part of that, and now Warren is increasingly becoming that, too.
The Steelers are giving him more and more opportunities and he is rewarding them. Harris and Warren work very well together, too, and have a great relationship. Why break that up if you don’t have to?
Let them continue to compete against each other, push each other, and have a dangerous 1-2 punch on the ground. Harris might not have a long-term future with the Steelers, that much is fair from Dulac. But Warren might not, either, considering the position he plays. A lot can happen between now and the rest of the season.
