Najee Harris advocates for RBs, disputes longevity narrative - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — With prominent veteran running backs prematurely hitting the market recently, Pittsburgh Steelers RB Najee Harris said Tuesday he doesn't buy into the narrative that his position has a short shelf life.

Both Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott were released from lucrative deals by their longtime teams this offseason, while New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was franchise-tagged.

«To see people like that get released, especially in my position, it's like, damn, what did they do?» Harris said at Steelers minicamp. «Is it because of their age? You know what I mean? Dalvin Cook is coming off of multiple 1,000 yard seasons. What? I don't know. Is it money from the team? They got to pay somebody? I don't know. But it's eye-opening, for sure.»

Earlier this week, Harris showed support for his position mates, reposting an interview clip of Barkley saying that he believes the top three running backs this year — himself, Tony Pollard and Josh Jacobs — were tagged to keep them from hitting the open market and cap their salaries at $10 million, depressing the overall market for running backs.

«What we go through is probably one of the roughest positions,» Harris said. «I'm just advocating… I agree with pretty much what those guys are saying. I'm a running back myself, and I'm pretty sure any running backs who will want to come in the league… people going around and telling them, 'If you want to get paid, don't be a running back.'»

Harris, 25, has long been a vocal advocate for running backs, dating back to draft night in 2021, when the Steelers selected him with the No. 24 overall pick.

Since then, he's been a key piece of the Steelers' offense as their primary back in each of the past two seasons. Though he battled