Giants Add Najee Harris to Crowded Backfield

The New York Giants are bolstering their running back corps by signing Najee Harris to a one-year deal. Harris, a former first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, joins a Giants backfield that already features a number of talented running backs.

Harris spent the first four years of his career in Pittsburgh, where he rushed 1,112 times for 4,373 yards and 28 touchdowns. He did not have his fifth-year option picked up and signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in March 2025. However, his time with the Chargers was marked by injury, including an eye injury during training camp and a torn Achilles in Week 3 of the season.

The Giants’ backfield is already crowded, featuring 2025 fourth-round pick Cam Skattebo, who was expected to be the lead back entering this season. However, Skattebo is coming off a complex leg injury that included an open tibia fracture, an ankle dislocation, and a rupture of the deltoid ligament. He underwent surgery and spent much of the offseason rehabbing, though he has been available throughout training camp.

Skattebo was expected to split work with 2024 fifth-rounder Tyrone Tracy, who has led the team in carries in each of the last two seasons. Tracy split work with Devin Singletary in 2024, then with Skattebo early last year, before sharing it with Singletary again following Skattebo’s injury. Singletary also remains on the roster and figured heavily in the Giants’ first preseason game, where all three backs rotated in on the snaps where Jaxson Dart was under center.

Harris’ entrance into the fold complicates things for everyone. He’s a huge, hulking back at 6-1, 242 pounds, seemingly making him a fit for early-down grinder work. However, he’s also been a fairly strong pass protector throughout his career, which means he could eat into third-down snaps as well.

It’s worth noting that Giants coach John Harbaugh has often favored big backs, with players like Derrick Henry, Gus Edwards, Mark Ingram II, Alex Collins, Le’Ron McClain, Terrence West, and Willis McGahee getting the majority of the carries during Harbaugh’s time as head coach of the Ravens. Harris fits into that mold of players, at least in terms of sheer size. Skattebo, Tracy, and Singletary do not.

The Giants could just be bringing in Harris as a camp body, but they already have plenty of depth at the position, so that seems somewhat unlikely. The more likely explanation is that they don’t feel great about the current crop of backs on the roster. There were rumors earlier in the offseason that they could spend on a running back in free agency, such as Kenneth Walker III, and that they were interested in Jeremiyah Love in the draft. Harris is not as high-caliber an option as those players, but bringing him in this late in the game does signal that they feel something is missing in the room.

Given the late addition, it’s worth wondering whether Tracy and/or Singletary could be the odd man out on cutdown day in a few weeks. Neither of them was acquired under the Harbaugh regime, and most teams aren’t going to carry four backs into the regular season. Tracy’s probably the more interesting player for the future given his explosiveness, but Singletary is a coaches’ favorite who is dependable as a blocker and pass-catcher. Either one of them could potentially be of interest to other teams in need of a second or third back toward the end of the preseason.

Missing Piece?

The Giants could just be bringing in Harris as a camp body, but they already have plenty of depth at the position, so that seems somewhat unlikely. The more likely explanation is that they don’t feel great about the current crop of backs on the roster. There were rumors earlier in the offseason that they could spend on a running back in free agency, such as Kenneth Walker III, and that they were interested in Jeremiyah Love in the draft. Harris is not as high-caliber an option as those players, but bringing him in this late in the game does signal that they feel something is missing in the room.