Odds: Steelers Projected to Run It Back with Najee Harris in 2025
Despite speculation that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris will move on from the Steel City in 2025, PennStakes.com tabbed the Steelers as the most likely landing spot for Harris at +200 odds. The Las Vegas Raiders have the second-best odds at +600, followed by the Dallas Cowboys (+600), Los Angeles Chargers (+900), Chicago Bears (+1100), Denver Broncos (+1250) and Minnesota Vikings (+1250).
The Raiders and Broncos have previously been mentioned as potential landing spots for Harris. The Chargers, Cowboys, Bears and Vikings all need running back help, as well. Harris should have several suitors, and they’ll most likely offer more money than Pittsburgh.
The 26-year-old has been a very reliable player throughout his four-year NFL career, though, rushing for at least 1,000 yards and six touchdowns every season and never missing a game. That could prove to be very valuable on the open market.
The Steelers declined Harris’ $6.79 million fifth-year option in May, so that’s the main reason why a return is unexpected. Harris is also not an ideal fit in Arthur Smith’s offense.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks it would be wise for the Steelers to move on from Harris. Harris has never been known to be a speedster, his longest career run is only 32 yards. Jeremiah thinks Harris just lacks the explosiveness that the Steelers need in Smith’s offense.
“They’re just not fast enough. Najee Harris, I know he’s a fan favorite because he’s tough, falls forward, and he’s physical,” Jeremiah said on the Shek Show with Dave Dameshek. “He’s got no juice. If you’re going to be a team reliant on the run game, you’ve got to be able to pop some explosive runs. That’s not 10-15 yards, that’s 50 or 60 yards.”
Dan Pizzuta of The 33rd Team also thinks the Steelers will part ways with Harris due to the lack of explosiveness.
“Najee Harris had 1,000 rushing yards, his fourth-straight year of doing so, but that was more because of volume than efficiency,” Pizzuta writes. “A team could hope better blocking in front of Harris could open up some more room, but he’s also not incredibly explosive, so some kind of Saquon Barkley impact is likely not on the table.”
According to Spotrac, Harris is projected to receive a three-year, $27.5 million deal on the open market. That would put the 26-year-old’s per year average at about $9.2 million, which would be the eighth highest in the NFL, behind Cardinals’ James Conner ($9.5M per year) and in front of Lions’ David Montgomery ($9.125M per year).
The Steelers could still decide to bring back Harris for the 2025 season and beyond. President Art Rooney II recently left the door open to a potential return.
“Najee’s a good player and we’ll evaluate whether we can bring him back. He’s going to have choices, too. It’s a position that is important to us,” Rooney said. “Whether it’s Najee or somebody else, it’s going to be an important position.”
Former NFL running back and fellow Bay Area native Maurice Jones-Drew thinks Denver would be a perfect fit for Harris.
“The Broncos haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Phillip Lindsay in 2019. Harris, meanwhile, became the third player in the past 20 seasons to hit the 1K mark in each of his first four NFL campaigns (joining Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson),” Jones-Drew wrote. “Sean Payton’s offense has steadily improved over his first two seasons in Denver, and the future looks bright with Bo Nix at quarterback. What’s missing now is a run game. Harris is a physical, downhill rusher who consistently breaks tackles. That’s the type of back Payton (and Nix) would welcome.”
The Broncos are in need of a bell-cow running back, so that does seem like a realistic possibility for Harris. The Raiders are another running back-needy team.
Raiders All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby is hoping Harris will join him in the Silver and Black. Harris is from the Bay Area, so Crosby thinks it could be an ideal fit for him to come back to the West Coast.
“Why not? He’s from the Bay. Najee’s a baller,” Crosby said on The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast. “Anybody that could help when it comes to winning and being a culture guy, a leader, that’s the type of guy I want around. You’ve seen Najee, he’s played four years in the league and has had 1000 yards every season. That alone is impressive. He is a tough (expletive) and hard to tackle, too. I’d love to have a guy like Najee around. Selfishly, he could come to Vegas all day.”