Steelers ownership gives Najee Harris one last shove out door with backhanded compliment

It's been clear for a while now that the Pittsburgh Steelers were not factoring former first-round pick Najee Harris into their future plans. Harris has been serviceable enough since being taken 24th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, but the sort of overwhelming rushing attack the team envisioned has simply never materialized. Issues along the offensive line certainly played a role in that, but Harris' lack of burst and big-play ability did their part as well, and Pittsburgh told us what it thought when it declined to pick up the running back's fifth-year option.

The last few weeks have only underscored that this was the right call, as Harris was a non-factor (sometimes even worse) during the team's late-season skid — averaging just 2.8 yards per carry in the ugly Wild Card Round loss to the rival Baltimore Ravens. But just in case the message somehow hadn't been delivered loudly enough just yet, team owner Art Rooney II made sure to underline it once again in a recent interview.

Art Rooney II puts the writing on the wall for Najee Harris in Pittsburgh

With Harris set to hit free agency this spring, Rooney II was asked about his future and the team's plans for the position moving forward. And while he avoided taking the low road and outright bashing Harris on his way out the door, he left zero doubt that the Steelers will be addressing running back elsewhere over the offseason.

"Najee is a good player, and obviously, he's gonna have decisions to make," Rooney told 93.7 The Fan. "We have decisions to make."

Sure, Rooney refers to Harris as a "good player", but saying that he and the Steelers have decisions to make — implying that those are, in fact, separate decisions — sure makes it sounds as if the team has already made up its mind. He made things even clearer later in the interview, with three little words that loom very large.

"We have a position open in that room and so we have to fill a position there, whether it's Najee or somebody else."

If Pittsburgh had any interest in making sure Harris stuck around, surely Rooney would've expressed it here, rather than respectfully but politely suggesting that the team could pursue any of a number of options at the position moving forward. This is a draft class loaded with running backs, and it makes all the sense in the world for the Steelers to take one of them, thank Harris and move on rather than tie itself to an aging player with a not-insignificant portion of its salary cap.