Steelers Pro Bowler only player to miss day one of mandatory minicamp with excused absence
When the Pittsburgh Steelers started mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, they had nearly perfect attendance. But per Mike Tomlin, the only player missing was RB Najee Harris, who was excused with a personal matter: What It Means At face value, the absence of Harris is no big deal, especially with Coach Tomlin announcing that the absence […]
When the Pittsburgh Steelers started mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, they had nearly perfect attendance.
But per Mike Tomlin, the only player missing was RB Najee Harris, who was excused with a personal matter:
What It Means
At face value, the absence of Harris is no big deal, especially with Coach Tomlin announcing that the absence was expected and that Harris would not be fined for missing day one of the mandatory three-day stretch.
But what can't be ignored is the looming contract situation for Harris, who has yet to speak to the media in any form or fashion since the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to decline his fifth-year option last month, setting him up to be an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season.
Harris was present for OTAs outside of the first practice and looks to be in the best shape of his pro career as he prepares to head into a contract year. Assuming that Harris' absence is anything more than coincidence would be rich, and the Steelers aren't opposed to disciplining players when they are in the wrong contractually, (Le'Veon Bell) leading me to believe this has little to do with his current contract situation.
Now, if Harris doesn't show tomorrow, especially after Coach Tomlin's statement of expectance, then eyebrows would need to be raised. But as Coach Tomlin said when asked about Harris and the decision to decline his fifth-year option, it was the business component that played into the choice more than the player component:
“It could reflect a lot of things, but there’s probably some depth to those waters,” Tomlin said back in May 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.”
Harris is the only player in franchise history to start his Steeler career with three straight 1000-yard rushing seasons is on the short list of players in NFL history to do as much.
Pair that with the best offensive line (or at least on paper) of his career in front of him and an offensive coordinator who has proven to be creative and efficient as a designer of run concepts and you would think Harris is set up for his best year yet.
Pittsburgh is telling you they want to see it before they believe it, however.
We'll see who's bet pays off.
