After Isiah Pacheco, the Kansas City Chiefs need a backup playmaker in the backfield, and a trade with the rival Pittsburgh Steelers might be their best option.

Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are the two running backs for Pittsburgh that are capable of starting. On Sunday, August 31, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine made a prediction that the Chiefs would sign one of the two before the trade deadline on November 5.

“If the Chiefs believe that adding another talented back could put them over the top in their quest to three-peat as champions then it would be worth it to them,” Ballentine stated. “Jaylen Warren or Najee Harris, two running backs for the Pittsburgh Steelers, are notable trade possibilities that would make sense.

Harris is the more successful player; in his three NFL seasons, he has surpassed 1,000 yards rushing and was selected to the Pro Bowl during his rookie year in 2021. In 51 games, he has also totaled 28 touchdowns and has never missed a game.

When Harris enters unrestricted free agency in March of next year and wants payment, that will become a problem. But the league as a whole is currently moving away from spending as much on running backs and toward attacking the position by low-cost committee.

The fifth-year option on Harris’s deal, which would have brought him only $6.8 million for the 2025 season, has already been rejected by the Steelers. From a budgetary standpoint, it arguably makes more sense to bring back Warren for less and pair him with a Day 3 rookie or a reclamation free agency project if Pittsburgh is unwilling to pay Harris that much for a single season.

In order to take advantage of the inefficiencies in the market, a select few teams are zigging where the majority of the league is zagging and signing running backs to large deals. Among such teams is the Green Bay Packers, who signed former All-Pro Josh Jacobs to a $48 million contract.