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Steelers Decline Option Yr for Harris

Thoughts... the stillers suck at drafting. The last 5th year option that they picked up was drafted in 2017. The earliest the next one might be is Jones. That's awful selection and development.
 
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joeydavid said:
Thoughts... the stillers suck at drafting. The last 5th year option that they picked up was drafted in 2017. The earliest the next one might be is Jones. That's awful selection and development.
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The drafts have been awful. Omar may have changed things.

But this news is yet another example of the Steelers telling on themselves as far the offense was concerned. It was one problem after another. Absolutely pathetic.
 
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WillyDavis33 said:
While I like NH I believe this is the right move! Thoughts?
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That was my first reaction, but on second thought what does $6.7million get you these days? He is a pretty solid vet. not spectacluar of course, but a good all around strong 2nd back is worth how much today? One year in a secondary role, could it hurt for that price. I don't really know.
 
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Parkview57 said:
That was my first reaction, but on second thought what does $6.7million get you these days? He is a pretty solid vet. not spectacluar of course, but a good all around strong 2nd back is worth how much today? One year in a secondary role, could it hurt for that price. I don't really know.
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Fair point! My reasoning is that many players play harder when they are in a contract year and by declining the option he is in a contract year this season as opposed to next season.
 
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I'm actually surprised because the option was only 6.7 million. I know everyone wanted to praise Rudolph as the savior, but TBH Harris and Warren mainly carried the load during that winning streak. I doubt they make the playoffs without his bruising running style. That said I wonder if he even wants to stick around. They absolutely won't pay him and he is young and unmarried he may prefer a more lively city. I could see him doing well somewhere else just like Connor.
 
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Fk_Pitt said:
The drafts have been awful. Omar may have changed things.

But this news is yet another example of the Steelers telling on themselves as far the offense was concerned. It was one problem after another. Absolutely pathetic.
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Yeah. Not sure what happened or changed. From about 2001 until TJ Watt in 2017, they nailed their 1st round pick way more times than not. Been all downhill since then. It sure feels like they have turned that around now, but we will see. Broderick Jones played well at times at RT last season. But the jury is still out on him, IMO. He was sitting behind Chuks and Dan Moore for some reason. Hopefully that reason was just Tomlin's stubbornness and not indicative of Broderick's talent (that is my opinion anyway). This coming season will be a big one as far as being able to judge if the drafting has truly improved or not.
 
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TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
Good call. You can get someone better for half the price. Or, if he flourishes in this offense, get Najee for like three years at less per season.
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If he blows up, he won't want to play for the $6.7 million next year without doing an extension. He'd hold out. The franchise tag, right now, is around $12 million which is what he would be asking for anyway so there isn't a lot of risk.

It's likely that a RB that doesn't posses breakaway speed and misses holes regularly isn't going to blow up so financially, you're right. There are plenty of cheaper options. Especially when you don't have a starting QB on the roster for next year and it seems pretty unlikely you're going to keep getting away with cheap QB rooms.
 
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The biggest strength Harris has is durability. For his career he averages less than 4 yards per carry. He was outplayed two years in a row by an undrafted rookie. His production can be replaced by taking a bruising RB in the 3rd round next year to split carries with Warren, who they hopefully sign to a cheap extension.
 
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h2p_5150 said:
The biggest strength Harris has is durability. For his career he averages less than 4 yards per carry. He was outplayed two years in a row by an undrafted rookie. His production can be replaced by taking a bruising RB in the 3rd round next year to split carries with Warren, who they hopefully sign to a cheap extension.
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I will only defend Harris on two issues. He has played behind and O-line that was absolute ass and the OC was a joke. He showed signs of life the minute Canada was gone and Broderick Jones was finally inserted in the lineup.
 
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I was very critical of the Najee pick at the time and still feel like it was a bad one, but this makes little sense to me. Najee is a good, not great RB. His primary value is absorbing a lot of volume and there really aren't a lot of backs who can do it like him. There also aren't projected to be a ton of quality free agent RBs next year since this year's class was full of them. Najee and Chubb (30 and coming off a devastating injury) are likely the top 2. Then it's like Conner (30 and injury history, would he even want to come back here?), Javonte Williams (meh production, injury history) and AJ Dillon (trash). The 2025 RB class will be really good but we'll have to use a Round 1 or Round 2 pick to get someone who is guaranteed to be close to Najee. I'd rather just keep him under control for 1 more year and then cut him loose when he's 27.

Under $7 million for a starting caliber RB isn't bad and the Steelers have over $93 million in space next year without a lot of necessary money to give out (except their entire QB room lol). I really don't understand this.
 
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lilspainishflea said:
I was very critical of the Najee pick at the time and still feel like it was a bad one, but this makes little sense to me. Najee is a good, not great RB. His primary value is absorbing a lot of volume and there really aren't a lot of backs who can do it like him. There also aren't projected to be a ton of quality free agent RBs next year since this year's class was full of them. Najee and Chubb (30 and coming off a devastating injury) are likely the top 2. Then it's like Conner (30 and injury history, would he even want to come back here?), Javonte Williams (meh production, injury history) and AJ Dillon (trash). The 2025 RB class will be really good but we'll have to use a Round 1 or Round 2 pick to get someone who is guaranteed to be close to Najee. I'd rather just keep him under control for 1 more year and then cut him loose when he's 27.

Under $7 million for a starting caliber RB isn't bad and the Steelers have over $93 million in space next year without a lot of necessary money to give out (except their entire QB room lol). I really don't understand this.
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It's this simple for me:

He's not a top 10 running back, so we shouldn't pay him a top 10 running back salary.

Whether it be a 3rd round pick, a $3M-$4M/year veteran, or Najee himself at a rate that is cheaper than $7M/season... it shouldn't be too difficult to replace his production at a lesser cost. I mean is he even a top 30 back in this league? I don't know.
 
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TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
It's this simple for me:

He's not a top 10 running back, so we shouldn't pay him a top 10 running back salary.

Whether it be a 3rd round pick, a $3M-$4M/year veteran, or Najee himself at a rate that is cheaper than $7M/season... it shouldn't be too difficult to replace his production at a lesser cost. I mean is he even a top 30 back in this league? I don't know.
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$6.8 million is like RB 12 and between James Conner and Miles Sanders. That's nothing.

Devin Singletary got $5.5 million per year. Zack Moss got $4 million. That's the minimum of what we need to spend just to replace Najee. You're not saving much and you're getting a much worse player.

Plus you have to factor the opportunity cost of having to draft a starting RB in round 1 or round 2 next year to replace Najee.

So here are your options:

1) Najee at $6.8 million
2) Save $800,000 and get a Miles Sanders level back
3) Spend at least $8 million (Zack Moss + Antonio Gibson) to get two RBs who can handle Najee's volume
4) Spend another 1st on a RB and still spend $3.2 million on him

If I had to choose I'm going 1 >>> 3 > 4 >> 2

Saving $3.5 million but blowing another high rookie pick again is completely idiotic and the only worse option is #2 since we'll have a RB that can't play at all.
 
lilspainishflea said:
$6.8 million is like RB 12 and between James Conner and Miles Sanders. That's nothing.

Devin Singletary got $5.5 million per year. Zack Moss got $4 million. That's the minimum of what we need to spend just to replace Najee. You're not saving much and you're getting a much worse player.

Plus you have to factor the opportunity cost of having to draft a starting RB in round 1 or round 2 next year to replace Najee.

So here are your options:

1) Najee at $6.8 million
2) Save $800,000 and get a Miles Sanders level back
3) Spend at least $8 million (Zack Moss + Antonio Gibson) to get two RBs who can handle Najee's volume
4) Spend another 1st on a RB and still spend $3.2 million on him

If I had to choose I'm going 1 >>> 3 > 4 >> 2

Saving $3.5 million but blowing another high rookie pick again is completely idiotic and the only worse option is #2 since we'll have a RB that can't play at all.
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I'd pay a RB league minimum and spend the money elsewhere. The difference between Najee Harris and Rodney Hammond is minimal. Its all OL blocking.
 
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lilspainishflea said:
$6.8 million is like RB 12 and between James Conner and Miles Sanders. That's nothing.

Devin Singletary got $5.5 million per year. Zack Moss got $4 million. That's the minimum of what we need to spend just to replace Najee. You're not saving much and you're getting a much worse player.

Plus you have to factor the opportunity cost of having to draft a starting RB in round 1 or round 2 next year to replace Najee.

So here are your options:

1) Najee at $6.8 million
2) Save $800,000 and get a Miles Sanders level back
3) Spend at least $8 million (Zack Moss + Antonio Gibson) to get two RBs who can handle Najee's volume
4) Spend another 1st on a RB and still spend $3.2 million on him

If I had to choose I'm going 1 >>> 3 > 4 >> 2

Saving $3.5 million but blowing another high rookie pick again is completely idiotic and the only worse option is #2 since we'll have a RB that can't play at all.
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I think we just have different opinions on how good he is. I unequivocally do not think they need to use a 1st or 2nd round pick to replace him - that's insane to me. More 3rd or 4th round (again, my opinion). Or pick one up for $3M - $4M in free agency and call it a day. I don't care about his volume if it's unimpressive. If Jeff Locke can pitch 300 innings/season, I still don't want to see it.
 
pittdan77 said:
I will only defend Harris on two issues. He has played behind and O-line that was absolute ass and the OC was a joke. He showed signs of life the minute Canada was gone and Broderick Jones was finally inserted in the lineup.
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No no no. It was Masons ability to throw downfield that changed all that........:p
 
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lilspainishflea said:
Under $7 million for a starting caliber RB isn't bad and the Steelers have over $93 million in space next year without a lot of necessary money to give out (except their entire QB room lol). I really don't understand this.
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They didn't pay the all-pro RB that was absolutely the workhorse of the offense a few years ago who was netting five yards a touch and almost 2,000 yards of offensive production. This looked like a no-brainer in comparison.
 
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h2p_5150 said:
The biggest strength Harris has is durability. For his career he averages less than 4 yards per carry. He was outplayed two years in a row by an undrafted rookie. His production can be replaced by taking a bruising RB in the 3rd round next year to split carries with Warren, who they hopefully sign to a cheap extension.
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Why do you want him to sign a "cheap" deal. If dude is good enough to be you guys starting running back then pay him what he is do. Who cares if he was undrafted, people outplay their draft position all the time. Warren is a beast. He may have a slight fumbling problem from games I've watched, but he is dangerous with the ball in his hands. He needs to get paid, or I expect him to hit the open market with many interested parties.
 
I didn’t love taking Najee in round 1 but not picking up the option seems like another dumb move. Warren may be the better back, but that is still a nice duo. Keeping him at $6.7 million / 1 year is less risk than a potential contract extension. Now they will need to add RB to their draft needs, along with a franchise QB, an aging DL, and secondary. I get the argument over RB value, but I think that’s overstated here because they hit gold with Warren as an UDFA. He seems to wash away the memories of Jaylen Samuels, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Anthony McFarland, etc.
 
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lilspainishflea said:
I was very critical of the Najee pick at the time and still feel like it was a bad one, but this makes little sense to me. Najee is a good, not great RB. His primary value is absorbing a lot of volume and there really aren't a lot of backs who can do it like him. There also aren't projected to be a ton of quality free agent RBs next year since this year's class was full of them. Najee and Chubb (30 and coming off a devastating injury) are likely the top 2. Then it's like Conner (30 and injury history, would he even want to come back here?), Javonte Williams (meh production, injury history) and AJ Dillon (trash). The 2025 RB class will be really good but we'll have to use a Round 1 or Round 2 pick to get someone who is guaranteed to be close to Najee. I'd rather just keep him under control for 1 more year and then cut him loose when he's 27.

Under $7 million for a starting caliber RB isn't bad and the Steelers have over $93 million in space next year without a lot of necessary money to give out (except their entire QB room lol). I really don't understand this.
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Couldn’t agree more.
 
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With the amount of leadership the Steelers have brought in this year, they should be Super Bowl favorites. That kind of leadership is worth a significant bump in everyone’s performance.
 
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pittdan77 said:
They are sorely lacking in leadership ability from the one guy that gets paid to be the leader, so I'm skeptical.
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I heard the leadership was so much better this year. Add that to the upgrades in the offensive line and that should be a 13 or 14 win season.
 
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The Steelers could still try to re-sign him and Harris will probably be happy he's hitting free agency a year early. I'd actually really like to see the Steelers bring back James Conner. Another great option for a two-back system who is a bigger big play threat and a better receiver than Harris, IMO.
 
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