Sometimes, sadly enough, fun stories hit a dead end before they really get a chance to thrive. Twitter rumors are the lifeblood of the NFL offseason, and it's our responsibility as NFL fans to let them grow in harmony, not pull them at the roots before they have a chance to send everyone into a random frenzy at 6PM on a Tuesday evening. We're the caretakers of dumb, unfounded takes.
The latest false start comes in Pittsburgh, where rumors of Najee Harris' departure have floated around airwaves recently. The rumor goes a little like this: Harris had his 5th year option declined, and the the vultures were circling. Those vultures were, of course, the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys could certainly use a starting running back who had more than 640 rushing yards last year, and Harris has been plenty productive in his three seasons with the Steelers. The pairing makes sense in a very abstract, on-paper sense, which is exactly where Cowboys fans love to operate.
But a rumor is just that. And beat reporters on both sides of the aisle were quick to point that out.
NFL insider gives update on Cowboys-Najee Harris rumors
The whispers were put to bed by NFL reporter Jane Slater, who succinctly ended all the fun before it even really got started:
On these Najee Harris and Cowboys reports, team source tells me “click bait” 🤷🏼♀️
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) May 6, 2024
Click bait! Good one, team source. That media training is really coming in handy, huh? Hopefully a blog about how this rumor is click bait also ends up being click bait, because I could certainly use the page views.
But there you have it: everything bad is click bait. All trade rumors are click bait. There's never ever any truth to them. And Najee Harris will definitely won't be on another team any time soon, even though the Steelers quite literally just declined the opportunity to keep him on their team longer. It's all just click bait.