Coming off of a fourth-straight 1,000-yard season while proving his durability once again, Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back and former 2021 first-round draft pick Najee Harris could find himself in line for a nice payday in free agency.
Harris, who rushed for 1,043 yards and six touchdowns on 243 carries in 2024, is one of the biggest names on the open market ahead of the 2025 season. He’s joined by names like Nick Chubb, JK Dobbins, Aaron Jones and Rico Dowdle, so there are options in free agency for teams. But Harris brings consistency and durability, something that is hard to find within the free agency running back class featuring names mentioned above.
That’s why NFL.com’s Kevin Patra believes Harris could be “overpriced” in free agency and land a nice payday on the open market. In a piece for NFL.com, Patra highlighted 10 players that could be misvalued in free agency, and Harris found himself in the “overpriced” bucket along with Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, Baltimore left tackle Ronnie Stanley, Buffalo wide receiver Amari Cooper, and Philadelphia defensive lineman Milton Williams.
“The pluses: Harris is a durable, consistent bulldozer who can eat up snaps, run through defenders and move a pile. The minuses: He lacks any semblance of second-level burst, has averaged 3.9 yards per carry over his career and offers little explosiveness,” Patra writes regarding Harris as a potential overpriced free agent. “In 1,097 career carries, Harris has never logged a run longer than 37 yards. There is value in his game as a reliable player who has never missed a contest and can take a beating. If this were an “Angry Runs” competition, sure, he’d be near the top of the list. But his free agency foray shouldn’t be close to what we saw last offseason with Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, who inked deals providing $12 million-plus per year.
“Harris simply isn’t in their class. Perhaps offseason projections running $9 million to $11 million are overzealous, and the depth of the running back draft class will winnow that figure down. Or maybe the lack of RB1s hitting free agency will lead to a nice payday for Harris in March.”
Harris certainly isn’t in the same class as the likes of Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, who got big deals in free agency last offseason, and ultimately put up some great seasons for the Eagles and Packers, with Barkley putting up an absurd season as the Eagles rolled to the Super Bowl win.
But with how durable Harris has been through his first four seasons, not missing a single game in his NFL career, and consistently cracking 1,000 yards and racking up at least 255 carries each season, Harris will have a market.
Though there’s still a chance for Harris to return to Pittsburgh, but considering the Steelers declined his fifth-year option last May that would have guaranteed him $6.79 million for the 2025 season, it’s hard to see the Steelers paying him a bit more over multiple years to retain his services, especially with a great running back draft class available in the 2025 NFL Draft.
So far this offseason, Harris has been connected to the likes of the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers in free agency. Though there’s many that downplay the four straight 1,000-yard seasons due to the 16- and 17-game schedules making it easier to crack that mark, Harris has been a force when it comes to creating yardage after contact and making defenders miss.
He came out strong to start the 2024 season, ripping off three-straight 100-yard games in Weeks 6-8, doing so for the first time in his career. But he tailed off down the stretch and appeared worn down behind an offensive line that was also struggling to perform well in the running game late in the season.
Based on charting here at Steelers Depot, Harris finished with 79 forced missed tackles this season to lead the team. The next closest was Jaylen Warren with 40.
He’s not going to be a guy that rips off 40+ yard runs and hits the home run, but he’s a durable plodder that can wear down defenses and carry the load as a bell-cow running back, which should make for a lucrative market for him. That just might not be in Pittsburgh.
