With the Pittsburgh Steelers roller-coaster of a season coming to an end in the wild-card round on Saturday, star running back Najee Harris, 26, may be looking to disembark and find himself a new ride.
Major decisions loom elsewhere up and down the Steelers depth chart — nowhere more so than under center.
No one on the offensive side of the ball had a particularly impressive day, but Harris’ meager 17 yards rushing represented a particularly poor performance.
Another proven and perhaps-available veteran in Aaron Rodgers might be appealing given Pittsburgh’s aging defensive core and closing championship window — if you can call it that. Or the Steel City can run it back with Justin Fields, hoping and praying that his early season successes weren’t a fluke.
The Russell Wilson experiment worked until it didn’t, though the veteran, despite his recently expired contract, “loves” the city and “hopes” he’s still employed there next year.
In postgame interviews following the loss to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens — the Steelers’ fifth consecutive defeat to close out the season — Prime Video’s Taylor Rooks says Harris was “visibly frustrated but candid.”
The Steelers may be willing to let him walk in free agency given the steady emergence of Jaylen Warren, the third-year back out of Oklahoma State who steadily dug into Harris’ workload throughout the 2024 campaign.
“He closed his media availability answering the question, ‘Have you put much thought into whether you want to stay with the Steelers?’ And he said ‘I have not put much thought in that at all.’”
