The Pittsburgh Steelers made the difficult decision to decline RB Najee Harris’ fifth-year option on Thursday, just minutes before the deadline. Reports indicated that the Steelers wanted to see how Arthur Smith’s system fits the RB duo of Harris and Warren prior to tying themselves to one of them long term. Former Steelers CB Ike Taylor thinks this will be a good thing for both Harris and the Steelers.
“He’s gonna go crazy. Just look at what our new OC Arthur Smith had did when he was over there with the Tennessee Titans,” Taylor said of Harris, via the Bleav In Steelers podcast posted on Apple Podcasts. “I can only imagine what Najee is about to do. Knock on wood, staying healthy this season, he gonna go crazy. This probably be his best year when contract year is coming up. And I’ve witnessed this, you just turn into a total different person mentally and you turn into a total different person physically, ’cause you gotta get that bag.”
While declining his option was a shrewd financial decision at a position that holds less and less value in today’s game, it also serves to maximize this one-year setup the Steelers have with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Now he has headlines floating around the media space about him like, “Harris isn’t worth $7 million.”
He was a part of the running back meetings that took place with players around the league last offseason where they discussed their position losing value and tried to plan a better future for their market. You can bet that Harris is extremely motivated entering free agency next season to help increase market value for the rest of the running backs around the league.
You see it around the league every year, players entering the final year of their contract putting up a career season. EDGE Josh Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars had single digit sacks for three-straight seasons before exploding for 17.5 in his contract year last season. CB Jaylon Johnson of the Chicago Bears followed a similar script. He had three iffy seasons before turning into a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro last season in his contract year with 10 passes defensed, four interceptions, and a touchdown. Even ILB Patrick Queen, who also had his fifth-year option declined, saw a jump in his production and leveraged it into a nice contract with the Steelers.
If Harris can replicate some of that success, the Steelers should be cooking on the offensive side of the ball with the upgraded offensive line, quarterbacks, and offensive coordinator.
Of course that will create an even more difficult decision next year. The franchise tag amount for RBs in 2025 is projected at $13.354 million, per Over the Cap.
That is nearly a doubling of the fifth-year option amount. It wouldn’t feel great to have to go that route, and it seems unlikely at this point, but if the conversation even needs to be had then something went very, very well.
Just look back to Derrick Henry’s bump in production the two years he worked with Smith as his OC in Tennessee. He showed out in 2019 with a (then) career-high rushing yards of 1,540 before surpassing the 2,000-yard mark in 2020. His previous high was 1,059 rushing yards before that—roughly in line with Harris’ 1,089 rushing yard average over three seasons.
