The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Najee Harris in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. While productive, he hasn’t been the All-Pro talent many fans hoped he would become.
As Harris’ rookie contract ends, the Steelers are predicted to move on from Harris this offseason and sign another running back.
Steelers Predicted To Sign Aaron Jones in Free Agency
Harris has been remarkably durable over his first four years in the league, but he lacks the type of explosive element that teams like to see out of running backs.
In a recent article detailing free agency predictions for all 32 teams, PFSN projected the Steelers to sign Aaron Jones.
“After four years of Harris as the lead back, the Pittsburgh Steelers could move on from the former first-round pick. Jaylen Warren still looms as a backfield option, but he’s a restricted free agent whose long-term future in Pittsburgh is also uncertain.
“Aaron Jones looms as a still-efficient veteran in an underwhelming free agent running back market. Jones averaged 4.5 yards per carry on 255 rush attempts with the Vikings in 2024. Somehow, that was the lowest yards-per-carry average of his career, but no Steelers RB has averaged 4.5 yards per carry on 250+ attempts since Le’Veon Bell in 2016.
“Jones would also have a reasonably natural scheme transition from Kevin Stefanski’s offense to Arthur Smith’s, as both have majored in wide-zone rushing attacks over the years. Jones is 30 years old, often the expiration date for running backs, but he’s yet to show significant signs of aging and is one of the more reliable starting running back options in free agency.”
Although Harris has averaged over 1,300 scrimmage yards per season, he has not developed into the dominant, big-play threat some imagined he’d become. He averaged more than 4.0 yards per carry just once in his career, in 2023, when he averaged 4.1 YPC. For his career, he averages just 3.9 YPC.
Harris has yet to miss a game in his NFL career, and he’s proven a highly capable pass catcher while generating a 180-1,149-6 receiving line in his first four seasons. However, after scoring three receiving touchdowns apiece in each of his first pair of NFL campaigns, he hasn’t found the end zone as a receiver since.
Despite cycling through multiple offensive coordinators and quarterbacks over the last several seasons, Pittsburgh’s offense has remained mostly a weak link for the team, and it seems clear the Steelers will need more playmakers to keep pace with the likes of the Ravens and the Bengals in the AFC North.
Therefore, it appears neither Harris’ durability nor versatility makes a strong enough case for the Steelers to keep him.
The Steelers will need to figure out what to do with Warren either way, but Jones would certainly provide an explosive element that Harris lacked. Despite Jones averaging a career-low YPC of 4.5 in 2024, as alluded to previously, it still comfortably outpaces Harris’ average from any of his first four seasons.
If the Steelers do bring back Warren, he and Jones would present a solid RB duo capable of rattling off explosive plays, something that Harris — who’s still searching for his first NFL carry of over 40 yards — has lacked.
He looks like a future Las Vegas raider
I swear to God the leadership there at the Steelers gets worse every year. There is no freaking way any running back. Could have done any better than najee Harris did with a freaking line that he had to work with. It was terrible and so is the coaching. You’re a bunch of f****** idiots
Oh and BTW no Steeler in franchise history did what he did 4 yrs with over 1000yds.
Oh and BTW no Steeler in franchise history did what he did 4 yrs with over 1000 years. Yeah he’s bad. Give him a better line and a smart OC and use him the way you should. And he’ll be fine.
Let me ask how many explosive plays did Jerome Bettis have? And I loved Jerome they have thunder and lightning, Najee did what he did with a putrid O-Line and a bad OC.