Despite breaking franchise records and never missing a start in a bachelor's degree worth of games, Najee Harris has likely played his final game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The writing has been on the wall since the team declined his fifth-year option last May, setting Harris up to be a free agent in a little over a month.
And that has some of his NFL peers calling for him to join them...
Maxx Crosby Recruits Najee Harris to Las Vegas Raiders
"Why not? I mean he's from the Bay, you know what I mean?" Crosby said on his podcast, The Rush. "You never know. Sh*t, Najees a baller. Anybody that could help when it comes to winning and being a culture guy, thats the type of guys you want around. You've seen Najee, like he's played four years in the league, he's had 1,000 yards every single season. Like that alone is extremely impressive so yeah bring in a guy like Najee, he's a tough motherf**ker, and he's hard to tackle too. He's my guy, obviously I'm a little biased. We have the same agent."
Harris, a California native, played at Antioch High School before joining Nick Saban and winning a title at the University of Alabama. He's been a picture of durability, toughness, and reliability in Pittsburgh.
But some of his comments have rubbed the Steelers the wrong way in the past, including what he said to end what was probably his final season in Pittsburgh.
"Really something that we talked about on the team that I feel like we need to do, [is] really just staying together as a team, not listening too much of the outside noise and the outside attention," Harris said after the game on Saturday. "That's the fastest way to break up a team...
"...I think that's what really [happened], paying attention too much of what the media say rather than just doing what we gotta do. And I think that's one of the main things I feel like we could help us out, you know? 'Cause it's gonna be tough. There's gonna be times when you have faced some adversity. But the way you answer it is all that matters."
So a change of scenery seems likely for Najee despite his historic run in Pittsburgh. What happens next at the RB position is anyone's guess, but for now, it doesn't seem Harris is a part of those plans.
