Najee Harris signs with Giants, Giants release JuJu Smith-Schuster

Najee Harris spent Monday working out for the Giants, and by Tuesday it was a done deal. Jordan Schultz and Ian Rapoport both reported New York is signing the free-agent running back, closing the loop on a visit that Adam Schefter first flagged less than 24 hours earlier.

Harris isn't just a camp body. From 2021 through 2024 with the Steelers he ran for 1,000 yards in every single season, one of only a handful of backs in NFL history to open a career that way, and piled up 34 total touchdowns along the way. That resume got him a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie and made him one of the more durable workhorses in the league — right up until last year.

The 2025 season with the Chargers was a disaster. Harris tore his Achilles, an injury that typically ends a season and threatens the following one too. Jordan Schultz noted he's since made a full recovery, and now Harris makes an odd little jump: from Jim Harbaugh's Chargers to John Harbaugh's Giants.

Not everyone is sold on what this actually means for New York's backfield. Hayden Winks framed it bluntly — he thinks Harris is probably cooked at this stage, but figures his value here is as a pass-pro option, and that the real story is what it says about the Giants' incumbent depth behind Cam Skattebo.

The corresponding move landed a few hours later. Adam Schefter reported the Giants are planning to release veteran wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster to make the math work, a straightforward subtraction to balance the Harris addition on the roster.

It's a fast, almost brutal churn of a roster move — one guy walks in off a torn Achilles and a wideout who was still catching passes for the Chiefs a year ago walks out the door. For a Giants team leaning on John Harbaugh to sort out a crowded backfield, Harris is a low-cost bet on name recognition and pass-blocking over the alternative of standing pat.