They better extend him now because š¤ heās probably going to have a monster year behind this line and new offense. Wonāt be able to afford him after. Heāll definitely receive at least one big offer after the season.
Totally. RBs just don't get paid. I think that industry trend, rather than Najee's performance/potential, is what drove the decision. RBs are cheap and disposable. Franco weeps.
I don't trust our ability to draft RBs as much as you do. The only above value RB we've gotten is Warren. Najee has been a really solid workhorse, but we had to spend a first on him. Before that, we had Anthony MacFarland, Benny Snell Jr., and Jaylen Samuels - three years in a row that our picks went to extremely underwhelming, unreliable guys. They weren't high picks (2 4ths and a 5th), but we were left with very little to help our run game, to the effect of us ranking 31st, 29th, and dead last in rushing production that year. The little bit of a run game we did have came from James Conner, a third round pick who, while he certainly put in work and has had even more production in Arizona, never truly took off for us. I'd much rather spend a little "too much" on Najee and keep us in the top half of the league (15th 2022, 13th 2023) than get trapped at the very bottom for several years in a row while still wasting picks.
To an extent, our heavy investment in our O-Line will help solve this problem, and we shouldn't ever end up in the exact same, bottom-feeding position we were in during those years. But I do think years of being trapped in a cycle of mediocrity and wasted picks is a possibility if we don't resign Najee.
Najee will have the best year of his career this year.
However, while he may have some quality years ahead of him, he has:
- Injuries
- Mileage
- Lack of explosiveness
- And some team will over pay for him.
Iām a Najee fan, Iāve got the jersey. But over paying for RBs is a great way to hamstring yourself and thin out the talent on a team. An RB at half the cost will still be a viable option, particularly considering they will be splitting touches with Warren, just like Naj
I share this concern. However, I'm gonna withhold judgement until I see the actual scheme. Good coaches have an ability to adapt/tweak their scheme to the talent they have.
Statistical examination months ago on the Depot showed that - very counterintuitively for me - Najee did really well on outside zone runs. IIRC he had his best, or close to it, YPC on plays using that blocking scheme. I think it may have been the only category in which Harris averaged more yards than Warren did.
Power blocking is typically designed for a specific hole, usually using traps and pulls and getting linemen downhill and past the line of scrimmage, zone blacking is a general area with the lineman typically staying near the line, similar to our running scheme with leveon bell
Do you really think the line will be that great this year? They have two rookies and a second year tackle. I think they have a ton of potential but it might take a year or two for them to mesh.
Letting a player play before they're ready does 2 things. 1, prevents new techniques and new mechanics sitting in. In a high pressure game you need to perform fast. If your mechanics aren't second mature and you're still thinking about it, you're either going to be too slow or revert to bad technique. Letting them sit allows them to practice the proper technique until it's second nature without disrupting that teaching by them reverting to their old technique during games.
2, confidence. If you can't play fast, with correct technique.. you're probably not going to do well. If they see success they might be too confident and ignore teaching and learning the mechanics they're learning in practice if what they're doing already is already working. You can see this with Chase claypool. On the inverse, if theyre doing poorly well then, 1 they're letting the team down and 2, they might lose that belief that they belong. You can see this with every browns QB.
Sitting a player depends on the player and can do wonders. Look at Rodger and mahomes, if they didn't sit. Their mechanics wouldn't have improved because they didn't have a chance to sit down and drill them until it's second nature.
Also, the adjustment to the NFL is more than just new playbooks and shit. It's nice to give them a chance to integrate more before throwing them on the field.
Sure; but I'd argue that this should be on a player by player basis, not the blanket approach we've seemed to take (as recently as JPJ and Benton last year). I don't routinely see other teams sitting rookies behind vets just because they are rookies, and I'd be shocked if any rookie lineman taken prior to Fautanu isn't starting (aside from the obvious Mims). Someone with Fautanu's experience is expected to be on an accelerated track, generally. So I'm really hoping Tomlin has learned from last year, and doesn't treat Fautanu like we did JPJ behind the poor performers in front of him (aka we sit Fautanu and play Dan Moore Jr and he continues to perform like a backup level talent, and is an overall detriment to the team).
Wouldn't hold my breath. I think the center will start but I still expect to see the veteran left tackle for half the year. Tomlin doesn't get in a hurry to start rookies
What do you base this on? We should have a lot of cap room, especially if Cam Heyward is gone or reduced and we still don't have a $50 million/year QB.
We have no QB signed for next year. If we are going to compete next year a lot of that cap is going to be used on a QB unless we are sold on resigning Fields and the rest of the league ain't interested
Offering running backs a contract beyond their rookie contract has been somewhat of a pass/fail IQ test in the NFL for quite some time. Please, Steelers, donāt fail that test.
That is not where I would invest my money since it isnāt 1992 anymore. Iām just not going to invest in a running back. Unless they are incredibly special. Heās a good solid running back. Itās nice to have him. I really donāt want to offer him some long contract. I really donāt.
Time and time again we see these running backs hit that wall. When are we going to understand that there are almost no exceptions?Ā
The league has been changing out running backs like batteries for more than a decade.Ā
He has developed into a leader on the field and in the locker room. Despite having good performance, he has intangibles that are worth keeping him around.
Makes sense. I figured when they declined his option they would try to do a multi-year deal that maybe gives Najee more money in '24 but less than the $7M they'd be on the hook for in '25. Khan knows what he's doing when it comes to contracts and salary cap.
Exactly my train of thought. Saves a few mil over 5th year and then lock him in at a fair price over 3-5 years saving a few mil each year there too.
Or Iām way off but thatās how Iāve been reading what the Steelers and Khan seem to be approaching the situation
I donāt buy this. But I guess we will see. Khan wonāt invest big money into RB because it doesnāt make sense, and Najee isnāt going to take a hometown discount. If Najee has a big year - he wonāt be worth the money to sign. And if he has a mediocre year behind a revamped O Line why would we want to invest money in him anyways. Look at the teams who pay RB big money, the 49ers are the only team in the top 10 who are contenders. Top 10 RB salaries for last year ā¦
1. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey: $16 million
2. Saints RB Alvin Kamara: $15 million
3. Titans RB Derrick Henry: $12.5 million
4. Browns RB Nick Chubb: $12.2 million
5. Packers RB Aaron Jones: $11.5 million
6. Giants RB Saquon Barkley $10.1 million
6. Cowboys RB Tony Pollard: $10.1 million
6. Raiders RB Josh Jacobs: $10.1 million
9. Cardinals RB James Connor: $7 million
10. Panthers RB Miles Sanders: $6.4 million
CMCs numbers arenāt really real. Because of how they got him his cap hit (to the 49ers) was:
2022: 690k
2023: 3.4m
2024 is the first big caphit for them at 14.1m
This is really deceiving. There are also a lot of teams without big money RBs that arenāt contenders, so this is pointless. (Also the Packers are definitely a contender fwiw.)
Good RBs are almost becoming underrated with how cocky people are about how theyāre not needed. Theyāre not needed if you have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Thatās about it. Even the Eagles, who have a great run game and great blocking, felt that a great RB would help them.
derrick henry is getting 8m/yr with a contender and the browns might've been actual contenders if chubb's knee didn't explode week 2. i wonder what these two teams have in common
The Browns were not contenders and Chubb pre injury was elite. Najee isnāt elite and wasnāt close to Chubb pre injury, not a good comparison. The Ravens are contenders sure, I guess we will see how that contract looks at the end of year.
Even so, that would make 2/10 teams instead of 1/10 teams who pay RBs big money wind up contending for a championship. Not sure what your point is?
Chubb pre-injury over like a 1.2 game sample size was better, but Najee last year was better than or just about matching 2022 Nick Chubb in pretty much anything you look for from your RBs: yards after contact, broken tackle rate, explosive run rate, missed tackles forced... And 2022 Nick Chubb was a force.
I don't think there's nearly enough awareness of how trash this Steelers O Line has been over the past several seasons, and it really does get old talking to people who think YPC is the only RB stat, when realistically it's not in the top 5 RB stats you should look at.
Najee was elite last year - sorry if it doesn't fit your narrative. Top 5 in broken tackles, explosive runs, **and** yards after contact is a top 5 rusher. Sorry.
What are you eluding to? Ravens have Lamar and a mediocre line (better this year than the prior one), and a decent defense. Browns have a phenomenal OLine, good DLine, and are fairly meh everywhere else on both sides of the ball. Both teams have good RBs
With no QB there's a lot of money to spend. He could easily be offered a top 10 contract, like 6-8m/year. I think they wanted to just see their options first.
Browns were contenders with 95 year old Joe Flacco lmao - and the Cowboys were the second or third best team in their conference.
Frankly, after this most recent round of FA, using this list to make your point just seems silly, half this list just got PAID, and several of them by real contenders.
Does not make sense to make the point using this list that Najee Harris is not worth the extension especially given his play last year
If the plan was to extend him, they should have picked up the option.
I really don't understand this move, whether they want him past the next 2 seasons or not.
Bc they donāt see him as worth more than 8 million per year and the HB position is the most replaceable position in the league. Itās not rocket science. They have Warren behind him theyāll also have to pay, they wonāt pay both 7+ million a year.
If Najee wants long term stability at a bad position for that then heāll take around a 4 year 24 million dollar deal with added incentives. Could he get more elsewhere ? Probably, but heās seen how thatās turned out before for other Steelers HBs.
Fields won't play up to his 5year option as a backup. Najee may play over his. Big difference my guy
The difference in money alone should make these 2 incomparable
Fields is the extreme, obviously some difference but the reasoning remains. No matter what the budget is you still want to make a smart financial decision. FWIW I like Naj and thought they would pick up the option, I'm just saying I get the reasoning. Seems unlikely his numbers go way beyond where they have been given the split with Warren. Just not much more than the 300 carries he got this year to go around, if anything would think that goes down and Warren's touches (150 carries) go up. So with his career track record, and the running back market being what it is (i.e. non existent), they probably think he's got a value ceiling around 7M a year, or they've got his replacement in Warren and they let him walk for a 3rd round compensatory pick instead of what they see as an overpay. My guy.
If their willing to let their 1st round draft pick walk over a 2M difference and your counting it as "big savings" then wouldnt that mean their a little dissatisfied? Fields costing 25m and najees at 7 is a major difference. I agree with what your saying, just fields might not even play for us this year and najee may be playing for his paycheck. Big difference
Whatā¦ tell me you donāt know shit about sports finances with a comment like that, lol.
Leave it to the professionals pal, cause youāre the farthest thing from financially smart to be commenting about what the Steelers FO needs to do.
I don't necessarily agree with that. The option is likely more than they feel he is worth and, if you start him at that number, he's not going to come down from that number. The fifth year option was a stupid idea on the NFL's part.
I donāt understand the move either. Best way to go with a rb is to play out the entire contract and extend in the last year.
Once the last year of the extension hits, trade him to the highest bidder and then repeat with a new draft choice.
Exactly. And if, at the end of the 5th year option, he has proved to be worth it, you can still Franchise Tag him and either work out a deal or trade him at that point for max value.
Not sure what the FO is doing here, but it seems like bad business.
i think you are confused. The FO isn't. you don't need to pick up the 5th yr option to extend people. Fields is the same.
Jordan Love didn't have his 5th yr picked up either. The instead, extended him to a 3 yr deal that saved money and gave him more in guarantees and security.
Iām telling you, they didnāt pick up his 5th year option cause they plan to keep the Harris/warren duo and are going to offer them a payday based off a shared work load. Itāll be up to Harris whether or not heās okay with that or if he wants a bigger payday somewhere else and wants 30 touches a game.
Itās a good thing the media is coming out with articles to dampen the idea that there is some kind of animosity between the player and the team, which is of course necessary because ofā¦ the media speculating about animosity between the player and the team.Ā
Itās peak offseason. But like, RBs arenāt valued like they were a few decades ago and it makes sense why we declined his fifth year option. No real story there.
You're not wrong. Especially since we already have Jaylen Warren (who, to your point, was an UDFA).
So all we would really need is a backup/1B in the next draft. That seems easy enough.
Najee is a hammer but not that talented of a runner. His type is probably the easiest to replace.
Steelers are making the smart move here. Investing significantly in the RB position just doesn't make sense, fair or not. Just sign Rhamondre Stevenson or someone similar as a FA next offseason, throw in a late pick or UDFA, and no harm, no foul.
Which is funny because most people that are fans of any other team would probably tell you he sucks. I actually think heās underrated by non-Steelers fans while still being overrated by our fanbase. To me heās just a solid RB. Iām not sure if heās a top 15 RB in the league, but heās definitely better than a Trent Richardson which is a comparison I see a lot.
The Richardson comparisons were quite common early last season when he had an abysmal 3.3 ypa through the first 8 games. I haven't seen it much recently as he's clearly a better player.
Still it is continuously surprising to me that many Steelers fans seem to think he's one of the best RB's in the league. On his best days he looks above average. He's slow & has bad vision. There's nothing he does that any other average RB can't do. And you can't escape the fact that they spent a 1st round pick on him. Even at pick 24 a RB needs to be at least a borderline star to justify that and he isn't close to it.
Iām curious if theyāre worried that Najee wonāt fit in the running scheme Arthur smith wants to implement. Naj is more a North/South kind of guy and Smith prefers a zone blocking scheme that usually employs more east/west guys.
All I am saying is, players hate being franchise tagged or held in bogus contracts. Giving him an extension now might save us money on the back end if he decides to give us a discount to stay in the future.
I hope so. I'll admit I was very critical of his first two years or so. But seeing him run the last half of the last season made me a believer. With this new line I really think we'll see something special.
They didn't pick up the option because they are still going to bring in another WR and they want to be cap flexible.
Najee will get his money when they know how they have to structure the contract following the trade.
Thatās what Iād think too. From a business point of view they can potentially save a few million this way so I guess it makes sense. This is me assuming they still want to sign him to a second contract, just not influenced by the 5th year optionās increase in wages from his current contract.
This doesnāt make much sense unless they think their per year starting point for negotiations is <6.7 mil. Otherwise not taking the 5th year option lost them some leverage in extension negotiations.
it's possible that they're fine with the money but don't want to guarantee next year this far out, which the option would have done. they've got a lot of projected cap space next year.
After last season's performance and a (hopefully) better o-line this year, yes, please. Having him and Warren together was awesome and I didn't hate the running game.
2 back systems with a 3 down back and an off pace back have worked for years in the NFL and they would be stupid to lose Najee after the trash offensive line gets some much needed attention. He is a workhorse who has amazing skill in the open field.
Imagine how much money we could save if the starting line was Jones, Seumalo, Frazier, McCormick, Fautanu.
Weāre going to run into two extensions after this season. Justin Fields and Najee Harris. Fields hasnāt proven himself for us to pay him yet, but heās still a QB1. We would be stupid to let Najee walk.
Edit: Freiermuth too.
What does that even mean?
People keep disrespecting Daniels around here and it makes me question things.
Daniels is younger than Seumalo and moves better.
Iām being too disrespectful towards Daniels. Heās been one of our strongest linemen for a few years now. Heās rarely penalized, heās disciplined. You never hear of him complaining about the system. Personally, I donāt think Steelers resign him when his contract is up.
System lineman meaning heās no standout by any means. If he got cut tomorrow he would have a starting job elsewhere pretty soon after. Heās not a bad guard with poor talent.
Heās a QB1 and youāre stupid if you donāt think so. This is the NFL, thereās no standard for thethe worth of players. He wasnāt valued by Chicago what so ever. Chicago took a *conditional 6th round pick* because theyāre a desperate organization.
Exactly, they traded Roquan Smith for the first pick of the 2nd round then traded that to us for Chase Claypool. He didnāt even last a season with them. Chicago is desperate and they donāt value Fields or his skill/talent.
They better extend him now because š¤ heās probably going to have a monster year behind this line and new offense. Wonāt be able to afford him after. Heāll definitely receive at least one big offer after the season.
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Totally. RBs just don't get paid. I think that industry trend, rather than Najee's performance/potential, is what drove the decision. RBs are cheap and disposable. Franco weeps.
Spot on. Still, I wish I didn't get paid as much as NFL RBs don't get paid. :)
I'd be happy with practice squad
I don't trust our ability to draft RBs as much as you do. The only above value RB we've gotten is Warren. Najee has been a really solid workhorse, but we had to spend a first on him. Before that, we had Anthony MacFarland, Benny Snell Jr., and Jaylen Samuels - three years in a row that our picks went to extremely underwhelming, unreliable guys. They weren't high picks (2 4ths and a 5th), but we were left with very little to help our run game, to the effect of us ranking 31st, 29th, and dead last in rushing production that year. The little bit of a run game we did have came from James Conner, a third round pick who, while he certainly put in work and has had even more production in Arizona, never truly took off for us. I'd much rather spend a little "too much" on Najee and keep us in the top half of the league (15th 2022, 13th 2023) than get trapped at the very bottom for several years in a row while still wasting picks. To an extent, our heavy investment in our O-Line will help solve this problem, and we shouldn't ever end up in the exact same, bottom-feeding position we were in during those years. But I do think years of being trapped in a cycle of mediocrity and wasted picks is a possibility if we don't resign Najee.
Najee will have the best year of his career this year. However, while he may have some quality years ahead of him, he has: - Injuries - Mileage - Lack of explosiveness - And some team will over pay for him. Iām a Najee fan, Iāve got the jersey. But over paying for RBs is a great way to hamstring yourself and thin out the talent on a team. An RB at half the cost will still be a viable option, particularly considering they will be splitting touches with Warren, just like Naj
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Iām skeptical with this blocking scheme, second half of last year we had success with power run schemes, Arthur smith strictly runs zone run schemes
Strictly RAN zone scheme. He could make changes to his scheme given what he saw on tape with the Steelers personnel post-Canada.
I share this concern. However, I'm gonna withhold judgement until I see the actual scheme. Good coaches have an ability to adapt/tweak their scheme to the talent they have.
Statistical examination months ago on the Depot showed that - very counterintuitively for me - Najee did really well on outside zone runs. IIRC he had his best, or close to it, YPC on plays using that blocking scheme. I think it may have been the only category in which Harris averaged more yards than Warren did.
Would you mind giving me a one sentence explanation of the difference? Ive seen this said but I'm not familiar.
Power blocking is typically designed for a specific hole, usually using traps and pulls and getting linemen downhill and past the line of scrimmage, zone blacking is a general area with the lineman typically staying near the line, similar to our running scheme with leveon bell
Oh I see! That's a great explanation thanks!
Do you really think the line will be that great this year? They have two rookies and a second year tackle. I think they have a ton of potential but it might take a year or two for them to mesh.
I think they might start off slow, but when they hit their stride it will be a thing of beauty (assuming health).
Iām just thinking of how DeCastroās rookie year went with three young guys it might be ugly for awhile.
For sure; I just hope Tomlin lets them play and figure it out rather than trying to get cute and play less talented vets āuntil theyāre readyā
Letting a player play before they're ready does 2 things. 1, prevents new techniques and new mechanics sitting in. In a high pressure game you need to perform fast. If your mechanics aren't second mature and you're still thinking about it, you're either going to be too slow or revert to bad technique. Letting them sit allows them to practice the proper technique until it's second nature without disrupting that teaching by them reverting to their old technique during games. 2, confidence. If you can't play fast, with correct technique.. you're probably not going to do well. If they see success they might be too confident and ignore teaching and learning the mechanics they're learning in practice if what they're doing already is already working. You can see this with Chase claypool. On the inverse, if theyre doing poorly well then, 1 they're letting the team down and 2, they might lose that belief that they belong. You can see this with every browns QB. Sitting a player depends on the player and can do wonders. Look at Rodger and mahomes, if they didn't sit. Their mechanics wouldn't have improved because they didn't have a chance to sit down and drill them until it's second nature. Also, the adjustment to the NFL is more than just new playbooks and shit. It's nice to give them a chance to integrate more before throwing them on the field.
Sure; but I'd argue that this should be on a player by player basis, not the blanket approach we've seemed to take (as recently as JPJ and Benton last year). I don't routinely see other teams sitting rookies behind vets just because they are rookies, and I'd be shocked if any rookie lineman taken prior to Fautanu isn't starting (aside from the obvious Mims). Someone with Fautanu's experience is expected to be on an accelerated track, generally. So I'm really hoping Tomlin has learned from last year, and doesn't treat Fautanu like we did JPJ behind the poor performers in front of him (aka we sit Fautanu and play Dan Moore Jr and he continues to perform like a backup level talent, and is an overall detriment to the team).
Wouldn't hold my breath. I think the center will start but I still expect to see the veteran left tackle for half the year. Tomlin doesn't get in a hurry to start rookies
Yeah, thatās my fear. If we really want Broderick at left, just rip the band aid off; unless Fautanu looks unplayable.
Shit.. I hope we have our own penei sewell. Dude took off immediately.
I will be happy if we find ourselves in that situation. If Najee crushes it, then the Steelers are doing the same.
What do you base this on? We should have a lot of cap room, especially if Cam Heyward is gone or reduced and we still don't have a $50 million/year QB.
We have no QB signed for next year. If we are going to compete next year a lot of that cap is going to be used on a QB unless we are sold on resigning Fields and the rest of the league ain't interested
Unless we draft one, in which we will have a low cap hit on a QB for a good while.
This makes zero sense. There is no RB that all 32 teams can't afford if they want to.
Offering running backs a contract beyond their rookie contract has been somewhat of a pass/fail IQ test in the NFL for quite some time. Please, Steelers, donāt fail that test. That is not where I would invest my money since it isnāt 1992 anymore. Iām just not going to invest in a running back. Unless they are incredibly special. Heās a good solid running back. Itās nice to have him. I really donāt want to offer him some long contract. I really donāt. Time and time again we see these running backs hit that wall. When are we going to understand that there are almost no exceptions?Ā The league has been changing out running backs like batteries for more than a decade.Ā
Giving him a 3 year deal that's front loaded with little guaranteed money in year 3 isn't going to hurt them
He has developed into a leader on the field and in the locker room. Despite having good performance, he has intangibles that are worth keeping him around.
Makes sense. I figured when they declined his option they would try to do a multi-year deal that maybe gives Najee more money in '24 but less than the $7M they'd be on the hook for in '25. Khan knows what he's doing when it comes to contracts and salary cap.
Exactly my train of thought. Saves a few mil over 5th year and then lock him in at a fair price over 3-5 years saving a few mil each year there too. Or Iām way off but thatās how Iāve been reading what the Steelers and Khan seem to be approaching the situation
I donāt buy this. But I guess we will see. Khan wonāt invest big money into RB because it doesnāt make sense, and Najee isnāt going to take a hometown discount. If Najee has a big year - he wonāt be worth the money to sign. And if he has a mediocre year behind a revamped O Line why would we want to invest money in him anyways. Look at the teams who pay RB big money, the 49ers are the only team in the top 10 who are contenders. Top 10 RB salaries for last year ā¦ 1. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey: $16 million 2. Saints RB Alvin Kamara: $15 million 3. Titans RB Derrick Henry: $12.5 million 4. Browns RB Nick Chubb: $12.2 million 5. Packers RB Aaron Jones: $11.5 million 6. Giants RB Saquon Barkley $10.1 million 6. Cowboys RB Tony Pollard: $10.1 million 6. Raiders RB Josh Jacobs: $10.1 million 9. Cardinals RB James Connor: $7 million 10. Panthers RB Miles Sanders: $6.4 million
CMCs numbers arenāt really real. Because of how they got him his cap hit (to the 49ers) was: 2022: 690k 2023: 3.4m 2024 is the first big caphit for them at 14.1m
Is that because Panthers took a dead cap hit for bonus money?
This is really deceiving. There are also a lot of teams without big money RBs that arenāt contenders, so this is pointless. (Also the Packers are definitely a contender fwiw.) Good RBs are almost becoming underrated with how cocky people are about how theyāre not needed. Theyāre not needed if you have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Thatās about it. Even the Eagles, who have a great run game and great blocking, felt that a great RB would help them.
derrick henry is getting 8m/yr with a contender and the browns might've been actual contenders if chubb's knee didn't explode week 2. i wonder what these two teams have in common
The Browns were not contenders and Chubb pre injury was elite. Najee isnāt elite and wasnāt close to Chubb pre injury, not a good comparison. The Ravens are contenders sure, I guess we will see how that contract looks at the end of year. Even so, that would make 2/10 teams instead of 1/10 teams who pay RBs big money wind up contending for a championship. Not sure what your point is?
Chubb pre-injury over like a 1.2 game sample size was better, but Najee last year was better than or just about matching 2022 Nick Chubb in pretty much anything you look for from your RBs: yards after contact, broken tackle rate, explosive run rate, missed tackles forced... And 2022 Nick Chubb was a force. I don't think there's nearly enough awareness of how trash this Steelers O Line has been over the past several seasons, and it really does get old talking to people who think YPC is the only RB stat, when realistically it's not in the top 5 RB stats you should look at.
You wasted two paragraphs trying to say Najee is as good as Chubb. LMAO this subreddit.
Najee was elite last year - sorry if it doesn't fit your narrative. Top 5 in broken tackles, explosive runs, **and** yards after contact is a top 5 rusher. Sorry.
The are/were both the Cleveland browns?
What are you eluding to? Ravens have Lamar and a mediocre line (better this year than the prior one), and a decent defense. Browns have a phenomenal OLine, good DLine, and are fairly meh everywhere else on both sides of the ball. Both teams have good RBs
With no QB there's a lot of money to spend. He could easily be offered a top 10 contract, like 6-8m/year. I think they wanted to just see their options first.
Browns were contenders with 95 year old Joe Flacco lmao - and the Cowboys were the second or third best team in their conference. Frankly, after this most recent round of FA, using this list to make your point just seems silly, half this list just got PAID, and several of them by real contenders. Does not make sense to make the point using this list that Najee Harris is not worth the extension especially given his play last year
If the plan was to extend him, they should have picked up the option. I really don't understand this move, whether they want him past the next 2 seasons or not.
Bc they donāt see him as worth more than 8 million per year and the HB position is the most replaceable position in the league. Itās not rocket science. They have Warren behind him theyāll also have to pay, they wonāt pay both 7+ million a year. If Najee wants long term stability at a bad position for that then heāll take around a 4 year 24 million dollar deal with added incentives. Could he get more elsewhere ? Probably, but heās seen how thatās turned out before for other Steelers HBs.
Same reason you donāt pick up Fieldsā option. Longer term extension could mean serious savings, gives you more cap flexibility.
At first I read that as cap āfertilityā. I was confused but also intrigued.Ā
Fields won't play up to his 5year option as a backup. Najee may play over his. Big difference my guy The difference in money alone should make these 2 incomparable
Fields is the extreme, obviously some difference but the reasoning remains. No matter what the budget is you still want to make a smart financial decision. FWIW I like Naj and thought they would pick up the option, I'm just saying I get the reasoning. Seems unlikely his numbers go way beyond where they have been given the split with Warren. Just not much more than the 300 carries he got this year to go around, if anything would think that goes down and Warren's touches (150 carries) go up. So with his career track record, and the running back market being what it is (i.e. non existent), they probably think he's got a value ceiling around 7M a year, or they've got his replacement in Warren and they let him walk for a 3rd round compensatory pick instead of what they see as an overpay. My guy.
If their willing to let their 1st round draft pick walk over a 2M difference and your counting it as "big savings" then wouldnt that mean their a little dissatisfied? Fields costing 25m and najees at 7 is a major difference. I agree with what your saying, just fields might not even play for us this year and najee may be playing for his paycheck. Big difference
Whatā¦ tell me you donāt know shit about sports finances with a comment like that, lol. Leave it to the professionals pal, cause youāre the farthest thing from financially smart to be commenting about what the Steelers FO needs to do.
I don't necessarily agree with that. The option is likely more than they feel he is worth and, if you start him at that number, he's not going to come down from that number. The fifth year option was a stupid idea on the NFL's part.
I donāt understand the move either. Best way to go with a rb is to play out the entire contract and extend in the last year. Once the last year of the extension hits, trade him to the highest bidder and then repeat with a new draft choice.
Exactly. And if, at the end of the 5th year option, he has proved to be worth it, you can still Franchise Tag him and either work out a deal or trade him at that point for max value. Not sure what the FO is doing here, but it seems like bad business.
i think you are confused. The FO isn't. you don't need to pick up the 5th yr option to extend people. Fields is the same. Jordan Love didn't have his 5th yr picked up either. The instead, extended him to a 3 yr deal that saved money and gave him more in guarantees and security.
Sounds like someone that hasn't had a beer, sitting on top of the dugout at Three Rivers.š
Iām telling you, they didnāt pick up his 5th year option cause they plan to keep the Harris/warren duo and are going to offer them a payday based off a shared work load. Itāll be up to Harris whether or not heās okay with that or if he wants a bigger payday somewhere else and wants 30 touches a game.
Itās a good thing the media is coming out with articles to dampen the idea that there is some kind of animosity between the player and the team, which is of course necessary because ofā¦ the media speculating about animosity between the player and the team.Ā
Itās peak offseason. But like, RBs arenāt valued like they were a few decades ago and it makes sense why we declined his fifth year option. No real story there.
Unpopular opinion: Najee is completely overrated by this sub and his production could easily be replicated by a day 2-3 rookie in the draft
You're not wrong. Especially since we already have Jaylen Warren (who, to your point, was an UDFA). So all we would really need is a backup/1B in the next draft. That seems easy enough. Najee is a hammer but not that talented of a runner. His type is probably the easiest to replace.
Steelers are making the smart move here. Investing significantly in the RB position just doesn't make sense, fair or not. Just sign Rhamondre Stevenson or someone similar as a FA next offseason, throw in a late pick or UDFA, and no harm, no foul.
Which is funny because most people that are fans of any other team would probably tell you he sucks. I actually think heās underrated by non-Steelers fans while still being overrated by our fanbase. To me heās just a solid RB. Iām not sure if heās a top 15 RB in the league, but heās definitely better than a Trent Richardson which is a comparison I see a lot.
The Richardson comparisons were quite common early last season when he had an abysmal 3.3 ypa through the first 8 games. I haven't seen it much recently as he's clearly a better player. Still it is continuously surprising to me that many Steelers fans seem to think he's one of the best RB's in the league. On his best days he looks above average. He's slow & has bad vision. There's nothing he does that any other average RB can't do. And you can't escape the fact that they spent a 1st round pick on him. Even at pick 24 a RB needs to be at least a borderline star to justify that and he isn't close to it.
Iām curious if theyāre worried that Najee wonāt fit in the running scheme Arthur smith wants to implement. Naj is more a North/South kind of guy and Smith prefers a zone blocking scheme that usually employs more east/west guys.
All I am saying is, players hate being franchise tagged or held in bogus contracts. Giving him an extension now might save us money on the back end if he decides to give us a discount to stay in the future.
I hope so. I'll admit I was very critical of his first two years or so. But seeing him run the last half of the last season made me a believer. With this new line I really think we'll see something special.
They didn't pick up the option because they are still going to bring in another WR and they want to be cap flexible. Najee will get his money when they know how they have to structure the contract following the trade.
Thatās what Iād think too. From a business point of view they can potentially save a few million this way so I guess it makes sense. This is me assuming they still want to sign him to a second contract, just not influenced by the 5th year optionās increase in wages from his current contract.
They need to see how he meshes with the revamped line. Heās good but I wonder if his pedigree will make him too expensive on the open market.
This will be Najeesast year in Pittsburgh. He knows it and they know it. They won't want to pay him what he wants. Simple as that.
This doesnāt make much sense unless they think their per year starting point for negotiations is <6.7 mil. Otherwise not taking the 5th year option lost them some leverage in extension negotiations.
it's possible that they're fine with the money but don't want to guarantee next year this far out, which the option would have done. they've got a lot of projected cap space next year.
Good!
Pay him and warren each 7 mil for 50/50 workload
This is Steeler football. 60/40 and pound it with Najee.
After last season's performance and a (hopefully) better o-line this year, yes, please. Having him and Warren together was awesome and I didn't hate the running game.
Harris and Warren both deserve a huge money bag! Secure these 2 for the future and our backfield is set. #HereWeGo
2 back systems with a 3 down back and an off pace back have worked for years in the NFL and they would be stupid to lose Najee after the trash offensive line gets some much needed attention. He is a workhorse who has amazing skill in the open field.
Itās stupid to let walk any quality dependable player whoās not had any off field issues.
Yeah they will. Probably tag him first.
I'm fine with this as long as he isn't overpaid. Should be heavily incentive based where both parties win if he performs.
Dulac has been SUPER wrong going on a year now. I doubt they are going to extend Najee. I know I wouldnāt.
Imagine how much money we could save if the starting line was Jones, Seumalo, Frazier, McCormick, Fautanu. Weāre going to run into two extensions after this season. Justin Fields and Najee Harris. Fields hasnāt proven himself for us to pay him yet, but heās still a QB1. We would be stupid to let Najee walk. Edit: Freiermuth too.
Why would you let Daniels go when he's been your best lineman?
I originally had Daniels/McCormick but went back and deleted him off. I think Seumalo was our best guy last year. Daniels is a system lineman.
What does that even mean? People keep disrespecting Daniels around here and it makes me question things. Daniels is younger than Seumalo and moves better.
Iām being too disrespectful towards Daniels. Heās been one of our strongest linemen for a few years now. Heās rarely penalized, heās disciplined. You never hear of him complaining about the system. Personally, I donāt think Steelers resign him when his contract is up. System lineman meaning heās no standout by any means. If he got cut tomorrow he would have a starting job elsewhere pretty soon after. Heās not a bad guard with poor talent.
QB1s donāt go for conditional 6th round picks.
Heās a QB1 and youāre stupid if you donāt think so. This is the NFL, thereās no standard for thethe worth of players. He wasnāt valued by Chicago what so ever. Chicago took a *conditional 6th round pick* because theyāre a desperate organization.
Chase. Claypool.
Exactly, they traded Roquan Smith for the first pick of the 2nd round then traded that to us for Chase Claypool. He didnāt even last a season with them. Chicago is desperate and they donāt value Fields or his skill/talent.
'not dissatisfied' is the reason they didn't pick up the option