After four years with running back Najee Harris at the helm of the backfield, the Pittsburgh Steelers look set to move on from the former Pro Bowler, who is scheduled to hit free agency in March.
Harris had a sensational rookie campaign but was never able to replicate that success over the next three seasons, which led to the Steelers declining his fifth-year option. At this point, it would be surprising to see the Steelers bring him back.
“Most definitely. I like it here in Pittsburgh,” Harris said during the offseason. “I like Coach [Tomlin], Mr. Rooney [team president Art Rooney II], Omar [Khan], even [former general manager] Kevin Colbert when he was here. It’s a good city. Obviously. The people here are nice and are welcoming, but it’s a business. This comes and goes in your life.”
With Pittsburgh looking for a replacement for Harris, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox believes the Steelers are the best landing spot for Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams, who is also slated to hit free agency this offseason.
“Pittsburgh could be the perfect landing spot for Williams,” he wrote. “He’d have a chance to reestablish himself in Smith’s run-first offense, while the Steelers would get a suitable complement to Jaylen Warren, possibly at a fraction of the cost of re-signing Harris.”
Like Harris, Williams had his best season as a rookie but hasn’t been able to get much going since then, and he certainly hasn’t approached the 1,000-yard campaigns Harris did.
The former second-round selection has been in and out of a starting role over the past two seasons and hasn’t averaged more than 3.7 yards per carry in a season in that span.
Williams would no doubt be cheaper than re-signing Harris, but he may actually be a downgrade from the Alabama product based on his numbers and wouldn’t offer the explosive, home-run threat kind of back the Steelers really need — and are reportedly looking for — to upgrade the offense.
“One of the priorities in the draft will be finding a running back who can get to the edge,” Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported earlier this month on The Rich Eisen Show. “They don’t have that kind of guy. They have two plodders, inside-the-tackles kinds of guys. And so they need to find a guy who can get on the edge to kind of supplement what they already have.”
According to Spotrac, Williams is projected to land a three-year, $20.5 million deal, which works out to $6.9 million annually. If that’s what it takes to sign Williams, the Steelers should absolutely pass.
With a pretty strong running back class in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers would be better suited finding their Harris replacement there. Pittsburgh could pair the rookie with Jaylen Warren in 2025 and bring in a cheap veteran depth option, assuming Cordarrelle Patterson isn’t brought back.
While the Steelers would be an ideal landing spot for Williams considering their run-heavy approach on offense, signing Williams would be a lateral move, at best for Pittsburgh. The Steelers need to get more explosive at running back to give their offense a new dynamic in 2025.
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