The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the best and most consistent organizations in all of professional sports. Despite that, they have made their fair share of mistakes. There have been countless misses in the NFL Draft, and trying to play players out of position has continued to plague the team. Another problem Pittsburgh has brought upon themselves was forcing Najee Harris into a leadership role too quickly. This damaged his relationship with the team when his captainship was stripped from him going into the 2023 season.
Harris' rookie season came in 2021, which also happened to be the last year of Ben Roethlisberger's career. Roethlisberger was the unquestioned leader of the offense for the majority of his time with Pittsburgh, and once he retired, someone had to take the reigns. That pressure was immediately applied to Harris, and he was named an offensive captain going into his second season. During an appearance on The PM Team w/Poni & Mueller on 93.7 The Fan, insider Mark Kaboly was asked if Harris' failures as a leader contributed to him getting his fifth-year option declined.
"Tough to say. I think they may have thrown him into that leadership role a little bit earlier than he was ready for and it wasn't good for them to pull back on that last year. They portrayed him as 'that guy' moving forward after his rookie season and obviously that didn't pan out."
Pittsburgh struggled following Roethlisberger's departure. They began the 2022 season with a 2-6 record. Harris came from Alabama, where he lost just four games. Going from being the leader of one of the most dominant teams in all of college football, to a team that can barely move the ball on offense is difficult. Harris eventually became frustrated, which was seen in the way he handled some of his media appearances.0
Harris was unable to retain his captainship going into the 2023 season. The offense continued to struggle under Matt Canada, and Harris once again was consistently visibly frustrated. His media appearances became few and far between, and when he did talk to reporters, he kept his answers stern and short.
Other team leaders, like TJ Watt or Cam Heyward, know how to properly handle the media. Whether the outcome of a game is good or bad, they say the right things and don't put anything out there that could disrupt the locker room. Harris has done the opposite, including publicly asking for the ball more.
Steelers' Najee Harris Has Tarnished Relationship With Local Media
A big topic of discussion surrounding the Steelers during the 2024 offseason was Harris' fifth-year option. It seemed like a no-brainer to pick up the option and keep Harris in Pittsburgh through at least the 2025 season, but the organization declined it. It's unclear if a new deal for Harris is being worked on, but as of now, he is only under contract through 2024.
Kaboly was asked how Harris feels about not having his option picked up, because he hasn't spoken to the media at all throughout Organized Team Activities (OTAs).
"He won't even acknowledge anybody. We won't find out how he feels until Tuesday or Wednesday when he is required to talk. But, he was required to talk after games last year and missed two or three of those."
Harris will be required to speak once mandatory minicamp begins next week, but history shows that Harris doesn't care about that. He missed multiple postgame media appearances during the 2023 season, and has refused to speak at OTAs so far.
Every NFL player is contractually obligated to be available to the media, it is part of their jobs. Harris clearly doesn't like that. It's hard to tell how he feels about the decision on his option, but hopefully he chooses to speak to media during minicamp to give an update on the situation.
