Another restricted free agent is officially under contract with his team, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. According to Mehta (via Twitter), defensive tackle Damon Harrison told reporters today that he signed his RFA tender from the Jets earlier this week.
Harrison, 26, has started all 32 regular season games for the Jets over the last two seasons, acting as the team’s primary nose tackle. Teaming with Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson, Harrison has contributed to one of the more formidable run-stopping fronts in the league during that stretch — according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Harrison’s +16.8 grade against the run in 2014 placed him third among defensive tackles, behind All-Pro players Marcell Dareus and Ndamukong Suh.
The Jets assigned Harrison a second-round tender last month, so he’ll be in line for a $2.356MM salary in 2015 before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2016. While other teams may have had interest in Harrison, they would have had to surrender a second-round pick to sign him away from the Jets.
With Harrison now under contract, only four restricted free agents remain unsigned: Browns safety Tashaun Gipson, Seahawks wideout Jermaine Kearse, Steelers safety Robert Golden, and Browns defensive lineman Ishmaa’ily Kitchen.