While many NFL players enjoy the opportunity to try the free agency, Najee Harris did not think much during his last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harris finally tested the market, signing a one -year agreement with the Los Angeles Chargers, but it was not necessarily for choice.
Harris, a 2021 professional bowling player and the only today Door “when signing again to Harris.
“I and the coach t [Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin]We are quite close to certain ways, so I knew what would come, “Harris said during his introductory presier.” I did not plan to do it. It was not something that was in the plan or anything. But it is a business. The coach T told me that when he was a rookie. Even in my last year, I told me, this is the commercial side of things. … I just took that and I understood. I simply knew that this would be my last year … Maybe, as, until the end of the season, I knew it. ”
The first corridor taken by the Steelers in the first round since 2008 (when Pittsburgh took Rashard Mendenhall with the general selection 23), Harris was a productive, reliable and extremely durable player during his time with the Steelers. In 2021, Harris broke The Le’veon Bell franchise record for total yards won by a rookie. Harris’ contributions that year helped Pittsburgh achieve a position in the playoffs during the last season of Ben Roethlisberger.
For the next three years, Harris continued to produce seasons per land of 1,000 yards while helping Steelers to achieve two more playoff bits.
Harris production in Pittsburgh is more impressive when the ongoing turbulence is considered that the Steelers offensive passed during that time span that included six different titular quartels Passionate interview after the game After a mediocre road loss in Cleveland) and an inconsistent offensive line game.
In spite of all that (along with the team that did not picked up its fifth year the last spring), Harris did not plan to leave Pittsburgh after the 2024 season. And, based on what Khan said in the NFL Combine, he appeared from the outside that the door had not closed to Harris again signed with the Steelers.
But, as Harris acknowledged this week, the NFL is a business, and the Steelers obviously felt it was time to go in a different direction. Despite all its success in Pittsburgh, it was clear that Harris was not completely appreciated by the Steelers, who are probably looking to replace it with more than a back that can reach abroad.
Pittsburgh can find that back, but it will be difficult to find someone as durable as Harris, who played and began in each of the 71 games of the steelers in the last four years. The Steelers also face the challenge of finding a back that has the physical and mental strength of Harris, who said that the physical attitude of the chargers was one of the reasons why he chose to sign with them once he became a free agent.
“Identity is what does the works, the integrity of how it is,” said Harris. “And that is what brought me here. Seeing their games throughout the season, to see how your line works or, how good your line is and how they end, and the integrity they bring. I feel that this is what makes the plays are line O. They have a good line or, so I just want to take advantage.”
