Minnesota gave safety Anthony Harris the franchise tag earlier this offseason.
As it stands, no deal between Harris and the Vikings was reported, and the deadline to secure a long-term deal with a franchise-tagged player for 2020 has now passed.
So Harris is still with the Vikings, but for how long?
He is under contract with the team through the 2020 NFL season. But now, he becomes a free agent, and an unrestricted one at that.
His asking price might be high, considering his recent performances has him rated as one of the top safeties by multiple outlets.
He had six interceptions in 2019, tied for an NFL best. There’s no question that Harris is a great safety if his 2018 season, when he started receiving more playing time, and 2019 season are any indication. But there is some valid concern about giving two large contracts to players at Harris’ position.
Harrison Smith, also on the Vikings and also considered to be one of the better safeties in the NFL, is under contract until after the 2021 NFL season. Assuming he doesn’t fall off in production, Smith will garner a big pay day, too.
Should Minnesota spend large sums of money for multi-year deals for players at safety? I’m not so sure. That’s not to knock those two’s level of play, it just be might be hard to logistically make it work.
There’s also this quote from Vikings coach Mike Zimmer earlier in the offseason:
“I love Anthony [Harris]. If he doesn’t come back, I think he’s earned everything he’s got, but if you put up the positions most important on defense it’s probably not going to be safety,” Zimmer told the Star Tribune and other outlets this offseason.
When you look at how much Zimmer values safety, it becomes difficult to say with certainty that Harris and Smith will both be receiving big deals in the not-so-distant future.
Overall, it helps for the Vikings to have stellar safeties, especially with the young core the team has at cornerback. However, an average safety paired with Harris back deep could still make up a decent defensive back grouping. Same goes for one paired with Smith.
Harris is locked in with the Vikings for now, but after 2020, it remains to be seen what the team will do. Will Minnesota lock them both in? Or will the team try to cut back at safety in some way? Vikings fans will have to wait and see.