Several key players for the Pittsburgh Steelers will become free agents this offseason, including Najee Harris, the team’s starting running back for the last four years.
Harris’ time in Pittsburgh has been a rollercoaster ride. A fast rollercoaster with big hills and valleys like the Phantom’s Revenge at Kennywood Park. Each season, he’ll have stretches of games where it looks like he’s running through molasses, dancing around in the backfield, and moving like old Big Ben when he takes a toss to the outside. Then, just as the fans want him to see the bench a bit more, he’ll string together a few 100-yard rushing outings where he’s bouncing off three tackles every run and hurdling cornerbacks like he’s back at Alabama playing against Vanderbilt.
It’s unknown whether the Steelers will sign Harris to a new contract this offseason—Harris himself said he hadn’t given the situation much thought—but there’s a lot of speculation that they will let the former first-round pick walk.
On “The Rush With Maxx Crosby” podcast on Tuesday afternoon, Las Vegas Raiders star pass rusher Maxx Crosby was asked if he’d like to see Najee Harris join him in the silver-and-black.
“Why not? He’s from the Bay,” said Crosby. “Najee’s a baller…Anybody that could help when it comes to winning and being a culture guy, a leader, that’s the type of guy you want around. You’ve seen Najee; he’s played four years in the league and has had 1,000 yards every single season. That alone is impressive. He’s a tough mf’er and hard to tackle, too…I’d love to have a guy like Najee around. Selfishly, he could come to Vegas all day.”
Maxx Crosby has experienced the struggle in trying to bring down Harris. After Harris rushed for 106 yards on just fourteen attempts against the Raiders earlier this season — including a nasty run where he tossed Crosby to the ground like a rag doll — Crosby commented on how difficult it is to tackle him.
His ability to break tackles is on display countless times throughout his years with the Steelers, but his leadership, as Crosby mentioned, often flies under the radar.
Coach Mike Tomlin has praised Najee Harris for his “natural appetite for leadership” in the past and has become more vocal each season in Pittsburgh. If the Steelers move on from Najee Harris, it would be a big loss in the locker room and on the field for a young offense that needs experienced leaders.
Whether he remains in the black-and-gold or dons another team’s colors like the silver-and-black, I’m sure he’ll find his way back onto Kyle Brandt’s “Angry Runs” segment as he continues to plant defensive lineman in the turf and leap over defensive backs helplessly diving at his ankles.
