TampaMike19
Footballguy
Man, this guy looks pretty good and it just aint' happening. Big runs, big plays, and the Steelers still go to Warren.
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RB Najee Harris, PIT (7 Viewers)
- Thread starter Faust
- Start date
JohnnyU
Footballguy
......as they should. He's a more dynamic player than Harris. Poor QB play is their biggest problem IMO.
fred_1_15301
Footballguy
The Steelers “star” players are all slowly coming out and publicly expressing their frustrations with the team/coaching. Things are going to get ugly in Pittsburgh very soon.
Todem
Footballguy
They have no QB.......when you don’t have a legit NFL QB you are screwed.
chad in Indy
Footballguy
This RB tandum is similar to Zeke/Pollard from last year. Both very good RBs that benefit from the other's skill sets. Hard on a defense to constantly adjust to who is in the backfield. I'm not sure either would do better without the other in the rotation.
urbanhack
Fight The Power!
I'm pretty sure Warren would be completely fine as a team's 3 down primary back, like Eckler.
chad in Indy
Footballguy
That's what everyone said about Pollard
rockaction
Footballguy
This guy's dynasty value has plummeted and sailed—all at the same time!
He's arguably the most durable RB in the league, he's got that going for him at least.
cdclopper
Footballguy
I'm watching some of my old cuttups from last year, and Najee Harris vs Seattle has me amped right now. Bro is literally doing a 5 yard bear crawl into the endzone carrying a defender. So many times he is stopped dead to rights but somehow keeps going anyhow. He's a pittsburgh runningback if ive ever seen one.
So glad the Steelers at least kept him.
So glad the Steelers at least kept him.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I think he will play for the Steelers for one more season only. Warren will spike in value once Harris is gone. I don't see the Steelers exercising their 5th year option on Harris. They must decide by 5/2.
If I was doing odds on it I'd put odds they DO pick up his 5th year option in the 80% type of range. Will be surprised if they don't, it's not that expensive.
Mister CIA
Footballguy
Projected week 1 starter for me.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I agree for 2024. In 2025 not so much.
TartanLion
Footballguy
If the price is right he’s a buy ( can say that about anyone I suppose ). Upgraded O line in draft, Arthur Smith, better Qb play hopefully etc etc
JohnnyU
Footballguy
There were many here who thought they would pick up his 5th year option. Harris looked good down the stretch last year and looked better than Warren the last part of 2024. However, I'm hopeful it will be the Warren show in 2025, but they could draft one of the stud RBs in 2025 and there are several.
brewer
Footballguy
If I were a RB in today's NFL, I would probably be trying to gather all RBs to have a walk out. When the salary of your position group is averaging about as much as punters, the salary correction has gone way too far.
Not saying that I think Najee deserves 7M a year, but in a league where Christian McCaffery is certainly one of your brightest stars, and he is the highest paid RB at ~16M, but even he doesn't make as much as guys such as Jerry Jeudy, Chris Godwin, Diontae Johnson, etc., something is wrong. You're telling me that AJ Brown is twice as valuable to a team as Christian McCaffery? I just don't see it.
Not saying that I think Najee deserves 7M a year, but in a league where Christian McCaffery is certainly one of your brightest stars, and he is the highest paid RB at ~16M, but even he doesn't make as much as guys such as Jerry Jeudy, Chris Godwin, Diontae Johnson, etc., something is wrong. You're telling me that AJ Brown is twice as valuable to a team as Christian McCaffery? I just don't see it.
5-ish Finkle
Footballguy
I don't think that's what the market is telling us. It'd probably be more accurate to say the market's telling us "We think WR X is twice as likely to play well into his 30s than RB Y, so we're willing to pay WR X more."
RB is a young man's game. The league finally figured out that paying a guy who gets routinely pounded 300+ times a season big paper after 5-6 years of that abuse is typically a recipe for being disappointed. Yeah, you get outliers (and some of them are big ones). But typically it's better to either spread that money/usage out over multiple players or just hit the reset button, then get another 21 year old to start the cycle over again rather than pay the well-used 27-28 year old.
In Harris' particular case I don't think it matters much. He's one of "Tomlin's Guys™", so I expect they're going to attempt to extend him now instead of next year, and that's the reason they declined the option. I don't necessarily agree with that tact (which is to say, I don't agree with it at all. I wouldn't have drafted him in the 1st to begin with), but his guys usually get taken care of.
The right move is for them to let him walk next year, allow another team to experience his decline, and pair another young guy with Warren to start the cycle over. Rinse repeat until you fall into a "generational" type that breaks the paradigm. I just don't think that's what they're going to do.
brewer
Footballguy
This is exactly my point though, RBs get pounded into the ground on rookie contracts and then don't even bother getting paid when that initial contract is up. And even the generational RB talents don't get paid what a decent WR gets.
I understand why it is happening, but if I were a RB, I would be trying my hardest to find a better way. Increase the rookie RB pay scale, guarantee RBs 5 year contracts or shorten rookie RB contracts to 3 years, I don't know, try something because at the moment, they are getting screwed all the way around.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
I could get onboard with making the rookie contracts for RBs shorter given the short shelf-life of a RB.
JohnnyU
Footballguy
Ya think? They could still resign him, but I hope they don't
--Jaylen Warren owner
joey
Footballguy
Or….
he runs his butt off to earn a new contract, shows why he was a high draft pick and gets resigned to a solid 2nd contract.
Signed,
Harris Owner
this feels a bit like a Jacobs situation.
but the advantage to the team in not accepting the 5th year option.... if they sign to a second deal they are done that contract by the time the RB hits 29. so the real savings is if the RB is done by 28 (which sometimes happens) and the buyout isnt expensive.
(This is my vindication for all the junk I got saying that he's not meeting his elite potential.)
I don't believe this is likely anymore. I think it's so easy to get a good cheap back that teams get 2 or 3 of em and it enters their minds far less often to pay a RB big $.
It should be. He should earn it and when he does (this scenario) he should get his pay day.
Next year they'll have Warren and a backup RB or two they like and they'll be asking do we need a good cheap college back or pay a guy a lot of $?
I hate it for the sport and for the guys I love watching but it just doesn't seem likely anymore
yeah, RB more than any other position has gotten to be a young mans game.
but I think if he went on the free agent market he'd likely get a decent contract. Maybe not CMC or Josh Jacobs big, but sizeable. at least 5 or 6 mil per year. hes a good player playing in a bad situation. honestly , hes likely more valuable in a different offense. so if you got him on the cheap, you might be able to keep with him signing somewhere else. This may actually be the best case scenario for you in a keeper/dynasty league.
Dez
Footballguy
Or none of matters and they don't sign either one back and draft someone else next year.
