Najee Harris spent all four seasons of his NFL career so far with the Steelers, who made him a first-round draft pick in 2021. But earlier this week he said he knew halfway through last season that he wouldn’t return to Pittsburgh. And now, after landing with the Chargers in NFL free agency, he was never impressed with Pittsburgh’s player facilities.
“It’s a great weight room, first of all, the facility—it’s all great things, man,” Harris said Friday at his introductory press conference with the Chargers. “A lot of things that they provide here… It’s not like this everywhere. This is a special thing right here. It reminds me of college at Alabama, all the resources that they have. You all have a great thing going on here, because, man, it’s not like this everywhere. It’s not.”
Harris stifled a laugh the second time he said other teams don’t have the facilities the Chargers have. It’s not hard to guess that Harris was referring to his prior employer.
Harris had a standout career at Alabama in the later years of the Nick Saban era, where the Crimson Tide used state-of-the-art facilities as a major recruiting tool before the name-image-likeness era transformed collegiate recruiting.
the bolt is something special pic.twitter.com/zJ9A6q6WKO
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) March 14, 2025
It was a rare public shot from an active player against one of the NFL’s most storied franchises, one that has won six Super Bowls, still retains its founding ownership group and has the league’s longest-tenured active head coach in Mike Tomlin.
But the Steelers facilities aren’t exactly well-regarded by current players. On this year’s NFL Players Association report cards, released last month, the Steelers got a C+ in the categories of Nutritionist/Dietitian, Training Room, and Weight Room, C- in Strength Coaches, and D for Locker Room.
The Steelers’ strength coach grade was the lowest in the league, while the team’s locker room grade was sixth-lowest.
On the field, the Steelers have reached the playoffs in four of their last five seasons but have not won a playoff game since 2017. Pittsburgh has also dealt with turnover at the quarterback position since Ben Rothliesberger retired in 2022, and it’s still unclear who will be throwing passes to star receivers George Pickens and the newly acquired DK Metcalf next season.
The Chargers have one of the newest and most modern facilities in the NFL. Their new $250 million facility in El Segundo, Calif., named “The Bolt,” opened last summer and has drawn positive reviews from players.
On the 2025 NFLPA Report Card, the first issued since the new Chargers facility opened, the team earned a B+ for Nutritionist/Dietician, an A- for Training Room, A+ for Weight Room and an A for Strength Coaches and Locker Room.
The Chargers also underwent a transformation in personnel last offseason with the hirings of new head coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz. The team rebounded from 5-12 in 2023 to 10-7 and an AFC wild-card playoff berth in 2024.
Despite having the second-most salary cap space among any NFL team entering the offseason, the Chargers have largely stuck to signing free agents to smaller deals. Their largest reported contracts handed out this offseason so far are a one-year, $18 million deal to retain veteran edge rusher Khalil Mack and a two-year, $20 million contract to sign offensive lineman Mekhi Becton away from the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles.
