Steelers decision to decline Najee Harris’ fifth year option marked as “business, not personal”

“It could reflect a lot of things, but there’s probably some depth to those waters,” Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday when asked about declining Harris' fifth year option. “Sometimes, it’s position-related, and things of that nature. There’s a business component of this and of all decisions that we make. There’s layers to it. I’m not going to try to characterize it in simplicity. That would probably be inappropriate.”

It may be the early stages of the 2024 season in Pittsburgh, but it's clear that Mike Tomlin is already in mid-season Tomlin Tuesday form. Part of what makes him so good at his job is the art of saying a lot, without really saying anything. 

But being coached in such an art, I can break down exactly what Tomlin was saying here, although it is a bit contradictory. 

When he says it's position-related, that makes a lot of sense. 

We have seen a paradigm shift in terms of offensive skill positions in the past 10-15 years. RBs used to be the feature point of an offense, often allocating high draft capital and hefty contracts. 

WRs have now taken over that role as the league becomes more passing-centric. That makes the RB position fungible by definition, meaning the Steelers likely view they can find their next Najee Harris, and for less money than extending the historic back. 

But when Tomlin mentions the business part of things, that's where it becomes confusing. 

See, picking up Harris' fifth-year option would have only cost the team $6.79 million, which is light, even for the RB position. 

Why you wouldn't want to lock up a RB in his prime for the next two years for less than $10 million total is questionable to me. The potential reasons why have been documented, but to say or allude to the fact that it was a good business decision simply isn't true. 

Harris will now undoubtedly sign for more than $6.79 million in free agency somewhere, and it looks less likely that it will be in Pittsburgh.