As it stands right now, neither Jaylen Warren nor Najee Harris are under contract for the 2025 season. Warren is easy to bring back on a restricted free agent tender for at least one more year of team control, but Harris will enter free agency with the ability to field offers from any team in the league. This leaves a void at one of the most important positions for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run-first offense.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, or perhaps part of the plan all along, is that the 2025 NFL Draft class is absolutely loaded with premier running back talent. One of the top draft analysts in NFL media thinks day two will see a run on the position.
“This draft is so deep at RB & they come in all different flavors,” wrote NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah on X. “The prospects will have similar grades, but teams will stack them differently based on fit/need. Day 2 is going to be a RB bonanza.”
The scouting department of NFL teams operate year round, and they are well aware of some of the talent coming down the pipeline for drafts beyond the immediate one coming up. It is quite possible that the stacked class this year had an influence on the Steelers’ decision to decline Harris’ fifth-year option.
The Steelers could go a number of different ways with all of the options available. Should they be looking at an all-around back who can help carry the load to keep Warren in his change-of-pace role? There are plenty of choices there like Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton, Cam Skattebo, Devin Neal, Kaleb Johnson or Quinshon Judkins. Or perhaps they want a speedster that can help test defenses horizontally and occasionally break the big play. Those names include Dylan Sampson, TreVeyon Henderson, RJ Harvey, and Bhaysul Tuten.
It is a fantastic year, perhaps the best of the last decade, to need a running back, and I would expect the Steelers to be heavily scouting several of these names throughout the next few months leading up to the draft. Backs like Saquon Barkley, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Derrick Henry have shown how important a back can be to making an offense fire on all cylinders. The Steelers could have a chance to add a top-notch weapon of their own.
