With Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris heading into free agency, Las Vegas Raiders All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby is hoping Harris will join him in the Silver and Black.
Harris is from the Bay Area, so Crosby thinks it could be an ideal fit for him to come back to the West Coast.
"Why not? He's from the Bay. Najee's a baller," Crosby said on The Rush With Maxx Crosby podcast. "Anybody that could help when it comes to winning and being a culture guy, a leader, that's the type of guy I want around. You've seen Najee, he's played four years in the league and has had 1000 yards every season. That alone is impressive. He is a tough (expletive) and hard to tackle, too. I'd love to have a guy like Najee around. Selfishly, he could come to Vegas all day."
The Sporting News' Mike Moraitis also thinks the Raiders would be a good landing spot for Harris.
"He doesn't have the best vision when it comes to finding holes and isn't exactly explosive, but Harris also had a lackluster offensive line in front of him and an offense that allowed teams to stack the box against him," Moraitis wrote . "Harris can be an above-average running back with a good supporting cast around him, and he's a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, also. While he isn't the sexiest option for the Raiders at running back, he'd be an upgrade over anyone the team had in 2024. Perhaps with a little nudging from their best player, the Raiders might consider bringing Harris in this offseason."
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris runs against the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 8, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Following the team's 28-14 loss in the Wild Card game, Harris was brief when asked straightforwardly if he wants to remain with the Steelers.
"I haven't really given that much thought at all," Harris answered.
The team's first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Harris has ran for over 1,000 in all four of his professional seasons, but the Steelers declined his fifth-year option for the 2025 season over the summer, setting up his pending free agency this March.
During his season-ending press conference on Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin praised Harris for his consistency over his four years in Pittsburgh.
"Naj has had an awesome four years here," Tomlin said . "I understand that he is a free agent. Again, it's at the very beginnings of that process in terms of us assessing what we're capable of doing or what we desire to do. And I'd imagine it's the same thing from a player's perspective.
"But rest assured, we've had a good experience with him and obviously the ridiculous consistency in his performance in terms of producing four straight 1,000-yard seasons speaks for itself."
Aaron Becker and Alan Saunders contributed reporting for this story.
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