The Steelers have some big decisions to make regarding a few different spots on the roster. With both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren bound for free agency, running back is among the priorities.
As currently constructed, the Steelers only have Cordarrelle Patterson and Jonathan Ward under contract at running back. Ward has 22 carries over five NFL seasons, and Patterson carries a $3.75 million cap hit in 2025. Given his performance and only $950,000 in dead cap, Patterson's one of the prime cap casualties to clear space ahead of free agency.
So, yeah, the Steelers need a running back. Two of them, actually.
Warren is a restricted free agent, which makes him much easier to retain. And, given the wide zone rushing attack Arthur Smith deploys, bringing Warren back to at least be in a timeshare makes a lot of sense.
Bringing back Harris? At one point, it seemed to make a lot of sense, even for just one more season. Say what you will about him, but Harris produced over his four seasons in Pittsburgh. He recorded 1,000-yard performances in each of those seasons, climbing to sixth all-time in franchise history with 4,312 yards. While you can definitely argue about his efficiency at 3.9 yards per carry, his production is not debatable.
However, it now doesn't make much sense to reunite with Harris. The Steelers could have brought him back for his fifth NFL season by exercising his fifth-year option, which would have come with a $6.79 million cap hit. But, Omar Khan and the front office decide not to pick up that option, which is why Harris is a free agent.
If they were to bring him back now, the price would be much higher than the fifth-year option. Spotrac projects Harris to get a three-year, $27.5 million contract, an average of $9.2 million per year. Pro Football Focus projects a three-year, $34.5 million contract, an average of $11.5 million per year, with $22.5 million guaranteed. If that sounds too high of a projection, the Patriots signed Rhamondre Stevenson to a four-year, $36 million contract last year. There's a healthy argument that Harris is a more valuable running back than Stevenson. There will be at least one team willing to pay that kind of money to a running back who's never run for less than 1,000 yards in a season, all while splitting touches in all but one of those years.
In addition to the finances, it's also important to take into account that the fit between Harris and the team seemed to sour at season's end.
"This is a business. This is a production business, obviously,” Harris said just two days prior to the Steelers' playoff loss to the Ravens. “All you could do is ... I've been put in situations where you've just gotta make the best of your opportunities. Whatever that is, it is. If you say you did the best you can, that's all you can do. Would you want to change stuff? Yeah. Would you want to do better at things? Yeah. But, sometimes people are just put in certain situations. You've just gotta make the best of it. And, that's really it."
It makes much more sense for the Steelers to not only run things back with Warren, but to also add to the room through the draft. This just so happens to be an amazing class of running backs, which is not always the case. Running back classes can be very hit and miss. This is the perfect opportunity to reset at running back, all while saving as much cap space as possible -- a win-win situation.
The added bonus of picking from this class is there's no pressure to make it a first-round pick like the Steelers did when they drafted Harris in 2021. Sure, if Boise State's Ashton Jeanty were to somehow fall to 21st overall, there'd be rightful temptation to jump on that. He's a special runner.
However, there are guys such as Arizona State's Cam Skattebo, Iowa's Kaleb Johnson and TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State, all of which should be available throughout the second day of the draft. There's also Kansas' Devin Neal, another potential Day 2 pick, who's an ideal fit as he's already run in a wide zone system in college, a similar system that Smith uses in Pittsburgh. And, that's not even considering UCF's RJ Harvey, Miami (FL)'s Damien Martinez or Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten, who are all early Day 3 picks that could come in a earn a No. 2 role right away.
With how rich the running back position is in this year's draft class, spending about one-fourth of the current free cap space to run it back with the same two running backs just doesn't make much sense, especially when that money has to go toward paying a quarterback or signing bigger positions of need such as wide receiver or cornerback -- all positions that are paid significantly more than running backs.
Should the Steelers bring back Warren using a right-of-first refusal tender and spend a Day 2 pick on a running back, they could have around $5 million of the salary cap allocated to their top-two running backs. It gives the team not only an opportunity to find another running back that fits well with what they want to do on offense, but also reserve the most amount of cap space for positions that require more money.
Harris isn't a bad guy. He's loved by many in the locker room. And, to reiterate, he's productive and durable. He never missed a game, despite fighting various injuries. But, the team's beyond the most logical way to reunite with Harris. In reality, that waved goodbye the moment the Steelers decided last May to not pick up his option.
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
5:52 pm - 02.08.2025DowntownReunion with Harris doesn't make much sense
The Steelers have some big decisions to make regarding a few different spots on the roster. With both Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren bound for free agency, running back is among the priorities.
As currently constructed, the Steelers only have Cordarrelle Patterson and Jonathan Ward under contract at running back. Ward has 22 carries over five NFL seasons, and Patterson carries a $3.75 million cap hit in 2025. Given his performance and only $950,000 in dead cap, Patterson's one of the prime cap casualties to clear space ahead of free agency.
So, yeah, the Steelers need a running back. Two of them, actually.
Warren is a restricted free agent, which makes him much easier to retain. And, given the wide zone rushing attack Arthur Smith deploys, bringing Warren back to at least be in a timeshare makes a lot of sense.
Bringing back Harris? At one point, it seemed to make a lot of sense, even for just one more season. Say what you will about him, but Harris produced over his four seasons in Pittsburgh. He recorded 1,000-yard performances in each of those seasons, climbing to sixth all-time in franchise history with 4,312 yards. While you can definitely argue about his efficiency at 3.9 yards per carry, his production is not debatable.
However, it now doesn't make much sense to reunite with Harris. The Steelers could have brought him back for his fifth NFL season by exercising his fifth-year option, which would have come with a $6.79 million cap hit. But, Omar Khan and the front office decide not to pick up that option, which is why Harris is a free agent.
If they were to bring him back now, the price would be much higher than the fifth-year option. Spotrac projects Harris to get a three-year, $27.5 million contract, an average of $9.2 million per year. Pro Football Focus projects a three-year, $34.5 million contract, an average of $11.5 million per year, with $22.5 million guaranteed. If that sounds too high of a projection, the Patriots signed Rhamondre Stevenson to a four-year, $36 million contract last year. There's a healthy argument that Harris is a more valuable running back than Stevenson. There will be at least one team willing to pay that kind of money to a running back who's never run for less than 1,000 yards in a season, all while splitting touches in all but one of those years.
In addition to the finances, it's also important to take into account that the fit between Harris and the team seemed to sour at season's end.
"This is a business. This is a production business, obviously,” Harris said just two days prior to the Steelers' playoff loss to the Ravens. “All you could do is ... I've been put in situations where you've just gotta make the best of your opportunities. Whatever that is, it is. If you say you did the best you can, that's all you can do. Would you want to change stuff? Yeah. Would you want to do better at things? Yeah. But, sometimes people are just put in certain situations. You've just gotta make the best of it. And, that's really it."
It makes much more sense for the Steelers to not only run things back with Warren, but to also add to the room through the draft. This just so happens to be an amazing class of running backs, which is not always the case. Running back classes can be very hit and miss. This is the perfect opportunity to reset at running back, all while saving as much cap space as possible -- a win-win situation.
The added bonus of picking from this class is there's no pressure to make it a first-round pick like the Steelers did when they drafted Harris in 2021. Sure, if Boise State's Ashton Jeanty were to somehow fall to 21st overall, there'd be rightful temptation to jump on that. He's a special runner.
However, there are guys such as Arizona State's Cam Skattebo, Iowa's Kaleb Johnson and TreVeyon Henderson or Quinshon Judkins out of Ohio State, all of which should be available throughout the second day of the draft. There's also Kansas' Devin Neal, another potential Day 2 pick, who's an ideal fit as he's already run in a wide zone system in college, a similar system that Smith uses in Pittsburgh. And, that's not even considering UCF's RJ Harvey, Miami (FL)'s Damien Martinez or Virginia Tech's Bhayshul Tuten, who are all early Day 3 picks that could come in a earn a No. 2 role right away.
With how rich the running back position is in this year's draft class, spending about one-fourth of the current free cap space to run it back with the same two running backs just doesn't make much sense, especially when that money has to go toward paying a quarterback or signing bigger positions of need such as wide receiver or cornerback -- all positions that are paid significantly more than running backs.
Should the Steelers bring back Warren using a right-of-first refusal tender and spend a Day 2 pick on a running back, they could have around $5 million of the salary cap allocated to their top-two running backs. It gives the team not only an opportunity to find another running back that fits well with what they want to do on offense, but also reserve the most amount of cap space for positions that require more money.
Harris isn't a bad guy. He's loved by many in the locker room. And, to reiterate, he's productive and durable. He never missed a game, despite fighting various injuries. But, the team's beyond the most logical way to reunite with Harris. In reality, that waved goodbye the moment the Steelers decided last May to not pick up his option.
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