Before the Pittsburgh Steelers reported to their 2024 training camp, I really wondered if RB Najee Harris would do much of anything during his time at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. After all, he is now in the final year of his rookie contract after the team decided against picking up his fifth-year option earlier in the offseason. To his credit, Harris not only participated fully throughout training camp, but he was also a model team player during it, and then some, according to Alex Kozora in his annual training camp awards post.
On the heels of camp ending, I really still believe there’s a decent chance that Harris could wind up signing a contract extension prior to the start of the 2024 regular season. At the very least, he certainly deserves to sign one.
Sure, he only really conducted one formal interview during camp, which came on the day the team reported to check into the dorms at Saint Vincent College, but I’m not going to ding him for that. At least he did that initial interview, which is something I would have bet against happening in the days leading up to reporting day. He addressed the Steelers’ fifth-year option decision during that one interview, and he did do well, in my honest opinion.
Could Najee Harris have given the media more of his time over the course of the last three weeks? Sure, but I suppose he is tired of getting his answers twisted, turned and taken out of context at this point. Besides, what meaningful questions could he have been asked throughout training camp? And was it worth him facing any good ones in lieu of again being asked about his contract situation? I get the reason he’s been silent, and thus just going about his season preparation like he usually does.
Do you think the Steelers noticed how Harris went about his business while in Latrobe? I bet they did. How could they not? Perhaps the team was a little unsure if their former first round draft pick would hold-in prior to the practices getting underway. Maybe they weren’t unsure. None of that really matters at this point, however, as Harris now exits training camp looking like nothing is bothering him, especially when it comes to his health status, which is a super plus.
While there have been no tangible signs that the Steelers will sign Harris to a contract extension prior to the start of the regular season, it’s not like the team has done any extension work so far this offseason. In fact, TE Pat Freiermuth and DT Cameron Heyward are both still waiting for contract extensions, and both are more plausible candidates than Harris right now.
Why hasn’t there been any extension action so far this summer? It could be because the Steelers are waiting to get some finality on San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk, for whom the team seems very much interested in trading for. Putting off all contract extensions until the Aiyuk situation is finalized would make a ton of sense, especially when you consider that Freiermuth’s 2024 salary cap charge would likely increase a bit when and if his is completed.
While an extension for Heyward would likely drop his 2024 salary cap charge to some degree, knowing exactly how much to drop it could be a big piece of the Steelers offseason puzzle, especially if the team wants to completely avoid restructuring the contract of S Minkah Fitzpatrick.
An extension for Harris, by the way, should he indeed wind up signing one, would likely result in his 2024 salary cap charge rising just a bit as well. At the time of this post, the Steelers are just $15,856,579 under the cap with their Rule of 51 total. That means that while they do have enough to initially accommodate an acquisition of Aiyuk prior to signing him to an extension, there is not very much wiggle room beyond that.
Look, like it or not, Najee Harris is criminally underpaid as we get deeper into the 2024 preseason. He’s set to earn just $2,439,198 in 2024, and that is on the heels of him playing every game since he’s been drafted and rushing for more than 1,000 yards in each of the previous seasons. The fact that none of that seems to be bothering him right now shows that he’s handling all of this really well, at least when it comes to what is visible to us outsiders.
I have already laid out what I think a fair contract extension for both sides would look like for Harris. That example, however, does not include any guaranteed money beyond 2024. If a term such as that is unacceptable to Harris, then so be it. At least the Steelers tried, if indeed they offer a contract similar to my mock one. In short, my sympathy for Harris would come to a halt if it were ever discovered that guaranteed money beyond 2024 is the only thing that killed the deal from going down.
As far as cash spending goes, the Steelers’ numbers show that a contract extension for Harris could easily be worked in. Yes, even if the team winds up trading for Aiyuk and signing him to a mega extension as well. It can all work with Freiermuth, Heyward, Harris, and even Aiyuk from a responsible financial standpoint.
Look, the only point I am trying to make here with the start of the 2024 regular season now just a little more than three weeks away is that Harris still very much deserves a fair market extension in the next 20-something days. The fact that I am even defending that narrative as long as I have is surprising because I’m one of the loudest voices you’ll probably find that believes the running back position is a fungible one in the NFL.
How will this all play out for Najee Harris? Well, you would probably be deemed very foolish to bet a hefty sum of money on Harris signing a contract extension prior to the start of the regular season. Even so, personally, I would suggest maybe putting a small amount of money down on such a proposition bet.
The Steelers are a very fair organization overall when it comes to contracts, unless you want to get into a discussion about fully guaranteed money beyond the first year of a deal. The fair thing for them to do in the next 20-something days is to offer Harris a fair market contract extension with guaranteed money only tied to 2024. If he turns it down, that’s on him.
Let me leave you with this one final thought: T Dan Moore Jr., ILB Cole Holcomb, S Damontae Kazee, OL Nate Herbig, and even new RB/KR Cordarrelle Patterson are all set to earn more in total cash in 2024 from the Steelers than Harris is scheduled to earn from the team. Holcomb is likely to start the regular season on the Reserve/PUP list, while Moore and Herbig both might wind up not being opening week starters.
Regardless of how this all plays out with Najee Harris in the next three weeks, I won’t lose any sleep either way. I just wanted to point out my thoughts on the matter one last time, especially with training camp now ending and before we get too much closer to the start of the 2024 regular season.
