Last week, Steelers general manager Omar Khan joined The PM Team on 93.7 The Fan for an interview, and for the first time he was asked about RB Najee Harris’ fifth-year option being declined. He called it a “business decision” and said the declining of the fifth-year option doesn’t exclude the team from trying to work out a long-term deal with Harris. He even went as far as to say he would love to have Harris stay in Pittsburgh and enjoy a long career.
Actions speak louder than words, and the action of declining the option, knowing full well that Harris is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next season, would suggest otherwise. Or at least that is the line of thinking from The Athletic’s Steelers insider Mark Kaboly.
“I don’t buy that at all,” Kaboly said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan’s The Morning Show. “If they wanted him in their long-term plans, they would’ve picked up his option or at least offer him a contract. I mean, I don’t believe in, let’s see how he does in Arthur Smith’s offense. We know how he’s gonna do in Arthur Smith’s offense ’cause he’s had running backs like that before. So I just think…it was a business decision.
“They don’t want to pay a guy 7 million bucks of guaranteed money right now. Especially when you have, first, a position that people don’t pay a lot to. And you already have a guy like Jaylen Warren who’s not going to get paid much money next year.”
With Jaylen Warren entering his third season as an original undrafted free agent signing, he will be a restricted free agent next March, and the Steelers will have an RFA tender to easily retain his services. More than likely, that will be a second-round RFA tender, which Over The Cap has projected to be a $4,978,000 price tag. Harris’ fifth-year option for the 2025 season would have been $6,790,000 fully guaranteed at signing, for comparison.
If Harris has the best season of his career, which he absolutely has a chance to do in Smith’s offensive system with a beefed up offensive line and a quarterback that will keep the passing game relevant, then it will be difficult to come in under that $6.79 million figure in terms of his new contract’s average annual value.
It is also important to keep in mind that Harris was a part of the RB-only meetings that took place last offseason to discuss the plummeting value of the RB market around the league and the devaluing of the position in general. He is fully aware of the realities, but that at least suggests he could play hard ball if any potential offer the Steelers make is not competitive to what he could receive on the open market.
And with him entering free agency in 2025, the Steelers don’t have a ton of leverage to prevent him from hitting the open market. The franchise tag amount for 2025 is projected to be $13,005,000 fully guaranteed, so nearly double what he would have made on the option year. That almost certainly will not happen. With nothing stopping Harris from testing the waters, all it takes is an interested party or two, and the Steelers could be priced out of his market.
Warren’s nearly $4.98 million RFA tender isn’t a huge chunk, but they aren’t going to commit big money on top of that and over invest in the position so soon after declining a modest $6.79 million option.
To some extent, it is a shame, because they drafted Harris to fix the running game before they had the offensive line to do so. Right when the line appears to be rebuilt, Harris will be leaving town.
Our very own Dave Bryan wrote a post last week offering up what a long-term deal could look like for Harris. We have to at least consider Khan’s sentiments about wanting to keep Harris for the long haul, but I tend to lean towards Kaboly’s line of thinking. Harris has an opportunity to test the open market as a 27-year-old next offseason who, up to this point, has almost no injury history and three 1,000-yard seasons. If anything, the Steelers may have done him a favor with the declining of his option.
