PITTSBURGH — Monday was an ugly day for top running backs across the NFL, and Najee Harris is not happy about it.
The Steelers running back took to Twitter to vent frustrations after the New York Giants' Saquon Barkley, the Las Vegas Raiders' Josh Jacobs and the Dallas Cowboys' Tony Pollard all failed to reach long-term deals with their teams before the NFL's deadline for franchise tagged players to negotiate extensions.
All three now find themselves in the situation Le'Veon Bell did with the Steelers in 2017 and 2018: play a season with no long-term security at one of the most brutal positions in the sport, or sit out in hopes of finding a long-term deal in free agency and risk losing millions if the market doesn't yield their desired deal.
It's a quandary that disproportionately affects running backs in the NFL because of the perception that even top backs can be replaced easily, a view articulated by ESPN's Matt Miller:
"Been saying it for years:
1. Draft a RB
2. Play the RB
...if he's good...
3. Franchise tag the RB ONE TIME
...and then...
1. Draft a RB..."
That post angered both Harris and star Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, who chimed in with this thought:
"At this point, just take the RB position out the game then. The ones that want to be great & work as hard as they can to give their all to an organization, just seems like it don't even matter. I'm with every RB that's fighting to get what they deserve."
Then Harris followed with his own frustrations on the matter:
"I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL- history will show that you need running backs to win- we set the tone every game and run trough walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke."
It won't be long before Harris finds himself in a similar contractual situation.
This season will be his third in the NFL, and the Steelers hold a fifth-year option on his rookie deal because he was taken in the later stages of the first round in 2021. After that, they could choose to use the franchise tag to retain him for multiple years before he can negotiate long-term security in free agency.
By the time that process plays out, he could be 28 or 29 years old and toward the end of his productive window in the NFL. For most running backs, it closes at 30, which is why they tend to lack leverage in these long-term negotiations. Hence, the frustration.
So while the situations with Barkley, Pollard and Jacobs may feel distant right now, how they're resolved could become very relevant to the Steelers in the near future — especially if Harris feels as Bell did during his contract negotiations and wants to fight for the value of the position.
It appears Bell would caution today's backs against taking that path, however. Just this weekend, he apologized to Steelers fans on social media and said it was a mistake not to take the long-term deal the Steelers had offered him to avoid the franchise tag.
He later signed a deal for less money with the New York Jets and was never nearly as productive. He has been out of the NFL since 2021 and has not held a lead role in a backfield since 2019.
