Since joining the Pittsburgh Steelers as the 24th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, running back Najee Harris is among the eight players who have produced at least 4,100 yards from scrimmage and 28 touchdowns over the past three seasons.

But this offseason, when the Steelers had the opportunity to add another season to Harris’ contract merely by saying they wanted to, Pittsburgh declined its option for the 2025 campaign on Harris’ four-year rookie deal.

After the Steelers’ first practice of their offseason program’s Phase 3 on Tuesday, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was asked if the decision reflected how the team felt about the former Alabama All-American.

“It could reflect a lot of things,” Tomlin said, “but there’s probably some depth to those waters. Sometimes it’s positional-related and things of that nature. There’s a business component of this and of all decisions that we make. And so there’s layers to it. I’m not going to try to characterize it in simplicity. That would probably be inappropriate.”

Although several Pittsburgh players talked to reporters after practice on Tuesday, Harris was not among them.

Each first-round draft pick signs a four-year contract that carries a team option for a fifth season. But that option must be exercised before the player’s fourth season. For the 2021 first-rounders, the deadline to do so arrived at 3 p.m. CDT May 2.

While tying Harris to Pittsburgh for an extra season, the fifth-year option would have guaranteed Harris a salary of $6.79 million for the 2025 campaign. That’s the average of the third- through 20th-highest salaries for running backs over the past five seasons.

Harris is the 18th player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons. He has started every Pittsburgh game since he was drafted.

Harris has 834 rushing attempts for 3,269 yards and 22 touchdowns and 144 receptions for 866 yards and six touchdowns during his NFL career.

Only three other players in NFL history have had as many rushing yards and receptions as Harris in their first three seasons — Pro Football Hall of Fame members Edgerrin James and LaDainian Tomlinson and former Auburn standout William Andrews.

Commonly called OTAs (for Organized Team Activities), Phase 3 practices allow NFL teams to expand their offseason on-the-field work to include 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills matching the offense and defense. Contact is still not allowed, but group drills can proceed at more than a walkthrough pace now.

A two-time 1,000-yard rusher for Alabama, Harris earned unanimous All-American recognition, won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back and set an SEC single-season touchdown record for the Crimson Tide’s unbeaten CFP national-championship team in 2020.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.