Opening camp ushers in a new offensive era for the Steelers.
Najee Harris has heard the modern orthodoxy that running backs are as unimportant as they have ever been in the NFL. He has the associated lack of contract security beyond this season to prove it.
But for everyone who tells him running backs are no longer as valuable as they used to be or that the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t value him, he points to the 978 times he’s touched the ball and 4,135 yards from scrimmage he’s gained for them over the past three seasons.
To Harris, and speaking on behalf of his fellow NFL running backs, that equates to plenty of value.
“I wouldn’t say devalued,” Harris said Wednesday of the state of the position across the league. “They’re only devalued when it comes time to pay.”
Speaking to reporters for the first time since the Steelers in May declined their fifth-year contract option for Harris for 2025, Harris acknowledged he was disappointed.
“Me sitting here and saying I’m a devalued position where there are games where I literally carry the offense, giving me the ball (repeatedly)?” Harris said, rhetorically, as he reported to Saint Vincent College for the start of training camp. “It’s not really devalued, it is just when it comes time to pay you, that’s when they want to devalue the position. Which, it is what it is.”
In their reasoning for declining Harris’ option, the Steelers have cited uncertainty with the future direction and focus of their offense — and where Harris’ role falls in it. The unit’s highest-profile pieces were overhauled in the offseason with former Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith taking over as offensive coordinator and former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson signed to a one-year contract.
Wilson reported to an off-site camp for the first time since entering the NFL a dozen years ago. These next three weeks will represent his first set of regular practices on a college campus since he led Wisconsin to the Big Ten title in 2011 after four years at N.C. State.
“Latrobe, I’ve heard about it for years,” Wilson said, “but to actually be here? An old-school style training camp, I love it. It’s all about ball.”
Though the Steelers also acquired former Chicago Bears starter Justin Fields over the offseason as they overhauled the quarterback position, Wilson has been characterized by coach Mike Tomlin as being in the “pole position” to open the season as the starter. Wilson ran the first-team offense throughout OTAs and minicamp this spring, and that’s not expected to change over these next three weeks while an hour’s drive east from Pittsburgh at bucolic Saint Vincent College.
Several players took note Wednesday of the gravitas the 35-year-old Wilson brings to the offense.
“He’s done a great job so far,” defensive player of the year finalist T.J. Watt said. “He’s a challenging guy to go against, very calm and collected at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s just a guy that seems very calm and steady, never too high or too low, and loves to compete. I am happy he’s with us.”
Like Fields, Wilson is on a one-year deal. Harris likewise is entering the final year of his contract. So is Jaylen Warren, the former undrafted Harris backup who over the past two years has eaten away at Harris’ playing time.
Harris will be 27 when free agency begins next March, and his touches and yards from scrimmage have declined each season since he was named to the Pro Bowl as a rookie first-round pick in 2021.
Harris seems resigned to the fact that as a running back in the latter half of his 20s, he likely won’t be cashing in on the open market the way players at some other positions do when their rookie contracts expire. Like he did last year at this time, Harris implied that running backs are working together to find ways to be more valued.
“There is something that is going on but I don’t want to say it,” Harris said. “I have an idea of what is going on.
“Right now, we’re not in the best position because if they tell us, this (particular) game you have got to carry the ball this number of times, you can’t say no. It won’t look good on you. You don’t really have any leverage right now as a running back. So, I don’t know. There’s nothing really you can do. You have no leverage.”
