Steelers Najee Harris Could Cash In as NFL RBs Prove Value

The 2024 NFL season has been a comeback year for the plight of the free agent running back, and pending Pittsburgh Steelers free agent Najee Harris might be among the ones to benefit.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley went off on Sunday night, posting an absurd 255 rushing yards, 302 yards from scrimmage for Eagles against the Los Angeles Rams.

That performance catapulted the 27-year-old Barkley, at least for one night, into the NFL lead in rushing yards (1,392), yards per game (126.5) and yards per attempt (6.2) this season. The player he passed? That’d be 30-year-old Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry.

Henry, whose Ravens face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football, has 1,185 yards, 107.7 yards per game and 6.0 yards per attempt as well as leading the league with 13 rushing touchdowns (Barkley has 10).

In third place behind that duo is Green Bay Packers back Josh Jacobs. The 26-year-old has 944 yards, averaging 85.8 per game and 4.7 yards per carry along with seven touchdowns. Those three have more in common than being the three most productive running backs in the NFL this season. They also signed free agent contracts with new teams this past offseason.

Barkley inked a three-year, $37.75 million deal to join the Eagles from their divisional rivals, the New York Giants, something that is undoubtedly keeping John Mara up at night. Henry agreed to a two-year, $16 million deal with the Ravens and Jacobs has a four-year, $48 million contract with the Packers.

Those deals were far from bank-breakers, considering the accomplishments of the players involved. Barkley was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Giants. Jacobs was a two-time Pro Bowler and an All-Pro in 2022 with the Las Vegas Raiders, when he led the NFL in rushing yards. Henry is one of the most decorated backs of his generation, a two-time rushing leader, a two-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowler.

But he earned just as much on the open market as D’Andre Swift and less than Rhamondre Stevenson this offseason.

The reason for that is that that teams have been hesitant to spend limited resources on running backs for years now, and veteran running backs are among those that have been stigmatized to the highest levels of players that are generally not worth their price point.

Will an MVP-caliber season from both Barkley and Henry change minds in that regard? It is a copycat league, so it’s certainly possible. The NFL has already seen some teams turn their backs on the idea that running backs lack value. After the New England Patriots, mid-rebuild, signed Stevenson to a four-year, $36 million contract this offseason. The Carolina Panthers, also amid massive roster uncertainty, inked Chuba Hubbard to a four-year, $33.2 million extension this season.

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It remains to be seen if moves like the Stevenson and Hubbard deals will play off for those teams like Henry, Barkley and Jacobs have for the Ravens, Eagles and Packers. It seems likely that teams already near the top of the NFL pecking order, and with established players at quarterback, would get more out of a running back signing.

Either way, expect teams like that (or teams that think they are, even if they aren’t), to open up their pocketbooks this offseason for running backs in a way that they haven’t been. The beneficiaries will come in what is not a deep running back are agent class. James Conner, Aaron Jones, Najee Harris and Nick Chubb are the potential starts available to the next round of running back-seeking teams.

Of that group, Harris is having the best season. He has 749 yards and three touchdowns, while Conner has 705 yards and five scores. Chubb, just back from injury, has 222 yards and three scores in five games.

It could very well be that months after the Steelers turned down a $6.9 million fifth-year option for Harris in 2025, that he ends up signing a contract worth much more than that on the open market in March.