Steelers Najee Harris plays a pivotal role in Pittsburgh’s offense

Steelers wouldn’t think of trading Najee Harris

In case you have not noticed, some online articles have questioned the potential benefits of trading Harris. Sure many teams might take him if the Steelers shopped him around. Yet his stats speak loud and clear when the Steelers use him; they win. So why trade him?

Sure, as a running back, Harris does have some negatives, and there are areas he could improve. He has a bad tendency of not cutting to the hole in the line and running the play as designed. He has never rushed for more than 37 yards on a single rushing play. He is not the devastating rusher Jerome Bettis, or Le’Veon Bell was.

So perhaps Harris will not kill you with the rush; he does nickel-and-dime teams with the rush. When firing on all cylinders, he will get 5-6 yards a rush and accumulate his yards by the volume of rushes. When he does that, it equates to more wins than losses. Thus, unless they have another running back that will outproduce him, there is no sense in trading him. There is only one free agent in 2023 the Steelers could sign that could perhaps do better than Najee, and that is Josh Jacobs. It seems highly unlikely the Steelers would pursue him in free agency.