Steelers' Future Plans For Najee Harris Are Becoming Evidently Clear As The 2024 Season Comes To A Close

The Pittsburgh Steelers have some major decisions to make regarding the running back position once the 2024 season comes to a close. The organization surprisingly declined Najee Harris' fifth-year option during the 2024 offseason, which makes him an unrestricted free agent after the season. Harris has been reliable for Pittsburgh as he has never missed a game, and the fourth-year running back has eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in each of his first three seasons. The back is on pace to hit that mark again in 2024.

Harris currently has 933 rushing yards with two games left to go in the regular season, so it is fair to assume he will hit the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth straight season. Despite how impressive that is, it doesn't seem like he will be back with the Steelers in 2025. 

The back had a crucial fumble (even though it was credited to Russell Wilson) during the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and some insiders were even theorizing that the Steelers may bench Harris in favor of Jaylen Warren. The team hasn't benched Harris, but he has consistently been seeing less snaps.

Ever since Warren joined the Steelers in 2022, there has been some debate about which running back should be receiving the bulk of the workload from the position. Each player has their own style of play, as Harris is more of a physical runner while Warren has a bit more burst and explosiveness. Warren has been more productive at times, and many fans want to see him as the featured back. Harris is still the starter, but the back has played 31 combined snaps over the last two games.

Harris will be a free agent after the 2024 season, and he should see a decent amount of interest from other teams around the NFL. Warren is also a free agent, but he will be a restricted one. It is more than likely that the Steelers offer him a new deal and let Harris find a new home. Pittsburgh could also target a new running back in the NFL Draft, which would be a cheaper option than bringing Harris back on a new deal.

The low snap count for Harris is a concerning trend over the last two games, and it will interesting to see how the offense uses him as the regular season comes to a close. Pittsburgh has already clinched a berth in the playoffs, so there is a chance they are saving their running back for the postseason.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin Defends Lack Of Snaps For Harris

Warren was on the field considerably more than Harris during the loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Harris played just 17 snaps while Warren was on the field for 40 offensive snaps. The split between the two backs is usually more similar, but over the last two weeks, there has been a drastic difference. Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about this during his press conference on Sunday.

"It was probably just the flow of the game." Tomlin said. "We had every intention of being inclusive and utilizing all of our backs, not only yesterday but because we are on a short turnaround and we got another game coming. We wanted to use all three guys and really Jaylen got a heck of a lot more than the others based on kind of some game circumstances when he was in and the general flow of the game."

Tomlin spoke about wanting to include all three running backs on Saturday, but that wasn't the case at all. Harris and Cordarrelle Patterson were on the field for 20 offensive snaps combined while Warren was on the field for 40 snaps. Pittsburgh does play another game on Wednesday, which is extremely short turnaround, but it seems like there is a deeper story to the increase in snaps for Warren.