The Pittsburgh Steelers have a decision to make on RB Najee Harris this offseason. He was selected in the 2021 NFL Draft in the first round, so his fifth-year option, if the team decides to exercise it, will need to be picked up no later than May 2.
Fifth-year options are built into all first-round draft picks’ contracts. It allows teams to have one extra year of control over a player before they are scheduled to hit free agency. In the case of a running back, that option is extremely important as long-term deals with running backs are tricky to work out. Those negotiations have not been going particularly well around the league as of late, and the Steelers have some experience with that from RB Le’Veon Bell’s situation in 2018.
During his Thursday season-ending press conference, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked how he would assess Harris’ performance in his first few seasons as the Steelers weigh the fifth-year option.
“Man, he’s been what we needed him to be,” Tomlin said via a video of the press conference posted on the team YouTube page. “I read a stat—he’s a 1,000-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.”
The fifth-year option amount for Harris is projected to be $6,659,000, per Over The Cap. That number becomes fully guaranteed at signing, which is something to consider as the Steelers do their annual massaging of the salary cap. There are multiple levels to a fifth-year option. It is based on the position they play and also the achievements in their first few seasons before the decision.
Harris falls under the play-time tier as he has started every possible game in his career so far. He did get named to a Pro Bowl in his rookie season, but it was as an alternate, which doesn’t factor into the formula. That would have escalated his amount a few more million dollars, which would have made the decision slightly harder.
At just shy of $6.7 million, the decision seems pretty straightforward for the Steelers, and Tomlin’s comments appear to back that up. They value him and his skill set and are likely to pick up the option to delay the long-term negotiations by another year.
Running backs have suffered a significant hit to their positional value over the last decade-plus as offenses have become more pass-oriented. So it was no surprise that many questioned the value of adding Harris in the first round at the time. It may not be the flashiest first three seasons, but he has accomplished multiple things that very few running backs have over his first three seasons.
As Tomlin said, three-straight seasons with 1,000 or more rushing yards. Harris is the first running back in franchise history to start out his career that way and the first since RB Alfred Morris all the way back in 2012 through 2014. Harris has also started every possible game of his first three seasons. Over the last 20 drafts, he is just the second running back to do that while playing over 60 percent of his team’s offensive snaps. His availability remains one of his best abilities.
Harris finished his first three regular seasons with 51 starts. In those starts, he has 834 carries for 3,269 yards and 22 touchdowns on the ground. He also has 144 receptions for 866 yards and six more touchdowns.
