Insider: Steelers Should Expect Trade Calls for Najee Harris

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan may be fielding trade calls for running back Najee Harris after declining the fifth-year option on his team’s starting running back, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said on Thursday.

The Steelers turned down the fifth-year option that would have paid Harris $6.7 million in 2025. Instead, he is now set to become an unrestricted free agent next March. Declining his option doesn’t mean that the Steelers don’t want Harris this coming season, but Breer said that teams will likely check and see whether he will be made available with his future in Pittsburgh cloudy.

“There are a few teams, given that the Pittsburgh Steelers have Jaylen Warren, who should put in the ask,” Breer wrote.

Breer also speculated a potential return, suggesting that the Steelers might be able to get a day two draft pick back in a trade for Najee Harris from a running back-needy team such as the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Steelers do also have Jaylen Warren on their roster, who split time with Harris in 2023 after coming on as an undrafted free agent in 2022. But Warren has never been a full-time starter, even for a game, because Harris has played in 51 consecutive games since the Steelers selected him in the first round out of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Alabama.

Beyond Harris and Warren, the Steelers have only veteran special teamer and converted wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and undrafted free agent Daijun Edwards out of Georgia in their running back room, so a trade of Harris would seem to leave them fairly thin at the position.

There had been speculation that the Dallas Cowboys were interested in trading for Harris, but that has been solidly shut down. Still, teams will likely check in on the availability of a player who no longer seems to be cemented as a future piece of the puzzle in Pittsburgh.