In a somewhat surprising move, the Pittsburgh Steelers declined the fifth-year option for running back Najee Harris. This means Harris will play out the final year of his rookie contract in 2024, and if the two sides don’t work out a new contract, he will hit free agency next offseason.
According to 93.7 The Fan radio host Paul Zeise, the decision to decline Harris’ fifth-year option came from Harris and not from the front office.
“Little birdie said Najee Harris actually asked for the Steelers to decline his fifth-year option because he would like to go play somewhere else,” Zeise said.
If this is the case, and we have no reason to believe it isn’t, we will find out soon enough once the season gets going. If the Steelers have no plans to bring Harris back and Harris has no plans to return, the team could easily turn to Jaylen Warren and shift the bulk of the workload to him.
But if the team wanted to be a little spiteful, why not work Harris into the ground one last time?
