The 2024 NFL Draft will take place a week from Thursday, and not long after that wraps up, several teams will have final decisions to make when it comes to players with fifth-year option decisions. In the Steelers’ case, specifically, they have decisions to make with two players this year, QB Justin Fields and RB Najee Harris. On Wednesday, former NFL agent Joel Corry wrote an article on CBS Sports concerning fifth-year option decisions due from several teams by May 2, and he addressed the Steelers’ decisions on both Fields and Harris.
As far as Fields goes, Corry believes the Steelers won’t pick up the fifth-year option on the former Chicago Bears first-round draft pick. By the way, that fifth-year option amount for the 2025 season is $25.664 million.
“Fields was dealt in the middle of March to the Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick that converts to a fourth-round pick if he takes 51% of Pittsburgh’s offensive snaps during the 2024 season,” Corry wrote on Wednesday. “The option will surely be declined since Russell Wilson has the inside track to open the season as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback.”
Corry’s opinion that the Steelers won’t pick up Fields’ fifth-year option isn’t surprising at all. In fact, the overarching thought since the Steelers acquired Fields via a trade with the Bears several weeks ago has been that it would be quite surprising if the team did pick up his fifth-year option.
While the Steelers aren’t likely to pick up Fields’ fifth-year option by this year’s deadline, it will be interesting to see if they might try to sign him to a short contract extension at a very affordable price at some point during the offseason. Maybe if only a one-year extension. After all, the Steelers don’t currently have any quarterbacks under contract past the 2024 season. That obviously is probably a lot more unlikely to happen than it is likely to happen, but it’s not an unthinkable course of action, just the same.
As for Corry’s thoughts on Harris and his upcoming fifth-year option decision, the former agent believes the Steelers will indeed exercise it. That amount for 2025 is $6.79 million, by the way.
“He has gained over 1,000 yards on the ground in each of his three NFL seasons. He is the only player to do so over the last three seasons (2021 through 2023). This feat should get Harris a fifth year in Pittsburgh,” Corry opined on Wednesday.
Once again, Corry’s prediction here is not overly surprising, as that also seems to be the overarching thought regarding the Harris decision.
As for the Steelers waiting this long to make their decision official on Harris’ fifth-year option, that’s not surprising. After all, the Steelers didn’t make their fifth-year option decision on OLB T.J. Watt official until right after the 2020 NFL Draft took place. We all knew at that time that they would ultimately make that decision even though they waited until after that year’s draft to make it official.
While probably unlikely to happen, the Steelers could ultimately try to work out a contract extension with Harris as well this offseason. After all, Harris is currently scheduled to earn just $2,439,198 in 2024. As far as the running back hierarchy goes around the NFL, Harris’ average of 3,261,861 per year ranks him 23rd overall, according to Over the Cap.
Since he came into the league in 2021, only three other running backs have compiled more rushing yards than he has so a possible contract extension for him this offseason might not be totally out of the question especially if the Steelers indeed pick up his fifth-year option for 2025, which will be fully guaranteed if exercised.
As soon as the Steelers make their final decisions on Fields and Harris, we’ll pass those along in a future post. That, however, is unlikely to happen until after the 2024 NFL Draft concludes.
