Throughout minicamp, the running back certainly acted like a player disgruntled in his situation. Harris attended minicamp, but he didn’t participate. Furthermore, he denied all requests for interviews, a trend that has been gone on since January, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.
Despite Pittsburgh’s decision, general manager Omar Khan doesn’t think it’s necessarily indicative of a departure. While keeping him in town has now become more difficult, Khan felt the move best fit the Steelers’ plans, via 93.7 The Fan, h/t Nick Farabaugh of Steelers Now.
“It was a business decision we had to make,” Khan said. “Just because we didn’t pick it up doesn’t exclude us from doing something with Najee.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin went on record earlier into minicamp saying that Harris’ absence wasn’t injury based. Pittsburgh had an opportunity to view the talent looking to make a name for themselves in the backfield. However, for Harris to not participate at all is still jarring, even if it was just minicamp.
Coming into training camp, things will become more serious. It’s also when Najee Harris seems more poised to speak on his current selection. But even if he isn’t in Pittsburgh’s future plans, the running back should still be a key offensive component for the Steelers hatever happens beyond the campaign is in the future. For now, Pittsburgh is hopeful to get Harris back on the field when they return to practice and back focusing on making a run to the Super Bowl. Lol
