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Harrison Smith

NFC Notes: Vikings, Smith, Panthers, Short

June 8th, 2016 at 3:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Harrison Smith got a big deal with the Vikings on Monday in part due to his agent’s familiarity with the Minnesota brass, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com writes. The agent likened his relationship with the Vikings to the give-and-take of marriage.

“When you first do a negotiation with a new person, you’re very careful in everything you say. You don’t give up an inch until you know you can get an inch back. It’d be like in marriage, you don’t say you’re going to take out the trash on Thursdays unless you know they’ll load the dishwasher on Fridays,” Brian Murphy said. “As you negotiate more and more deals, my whole philosophy is, there’s no room for bluffing. There’s certainly no room for lying. … I think that (Vikings VP of football operations) Rob [Brzezinski] is very, very good in that, in terms of saying what he means. And we say what we mean. But it takes a couple negotiations to realize, ‘Hey, when he said this, he really does mean this.'”

Murphy also represents John Sullivan, who has done two deals beyond his rookie contract. Kyle Rudolph, who signed a five-year deal in 2014, is also a Murphy client, as is Everson Griffen, who got $42.5MM over five years from Minnesota after the 2013 season. 2014 first-round pick Trae Waynes is also repped by Murphy and he could be the latest to add to the ~$180MM worth of deals that GM Rick Speilman has inked with Murphy guys.

Right now, it seems to be a happy marriage between the safety and the Vikings. Smith will earn more per year than any other safety in the NFL while the Vikings have the star locked down for years to come.

Here’s more out of the NFC:

  • Panthers coach Ron Rivera has repeatedly said that he wasn’t concerned by the absence of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short during OTAs, but David Newton of ESPN.com is confident that both he and GM Dave Gettleman are irked by it. “The thing I appreciate, for most part, everybody has told me what’s been going on with the exception of one person,” said Rivera, who was very possibly referring to the defensive tackle. Short’s 11 sacks last season were tied for the most by anyone at his position. He is currently scheduled to count for just $1.473MM against the 2016 cap.
  • Ryan Kalil‘s extension with the Panthers calls for him to make $13.25MM in 2016 instead of the originally planned $7.75MM, but he’ll make just $3.75MM in ’17, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That affordable salary pretty much secures his ’17 roster spot, he adds. Following the extension, Kalil’s cap numbers are as follows (Twitter link via Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer): $11.83MM in 2016, $5.33MM in 2017, and $5.78MM in 2018.
  • If former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh got his way, the 49ers would have drafted Julio Jones, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes. Recently, Harbaugh (now the coach at Michigan), caused a stir when he was spotted wearing a Jones jersey at a satellite camp. “I’ve always had a ton of respect for Julio Jones,” Harbaugh said in this video on Scout.com. “When I was with the San Francisco 49ers, we were hoping to draft Julio. Always have had tremendous respect for him, competed against him. … I’m just a big fan of a lot of pe0ple. And I’m a jersey guy. I like jerseys.”

Extra Points: Megatron, Hackenberg, Vikings

March 26th, 2016 at 12:33pm CST by Ben Levine

NFL fans were a bit surprised when Lions star wideout Calvin Johnson announced that he’d be hanging up his cleats. However, his quarterback could tell that the 30-year-old was growing tired of the game.

“Not to say that I expected it, but I wasn’t shocked,” Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I’ve known Calvin for seven years and know the effort and the attitude that he plays with, and it takes a toll on people. And he was catching quite a few passes and getting hit quite a bunch, and so it takes a toll. And he’s a guy that from an offensive standpoint was touching the ball or carrying the ball just as much as anybody. So I knew the NFL was kind of wearing on him and I just told him, when he told me he was done, I just told him, ‘I’m happy for you if you’re happy.’ And that’s what you want. He’s a guy that gave everything to the game and you want him to be able to walk out on his own terms and feel like he did the right thing.”

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFL…

  • “Quality” quarterbacks can be found towards the end of the first round, leading Paola Boivin of AZCentral.com to write that the Cardinals should select a signal-caller with their first selection in this year’s draft. Boivin believes it’s “vital” to have somebody in the wings, regardless of how long Carson Palmer continues to play.
  • Former Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg showed flashes of brilliance playing under former coach Bill O’Brien, but he struggled under the guidance of replacement James Franklin. While the connections are undeniable, NFL scouts were still hoping for some accountability from the prospect, something he failed to deliver. Robert Klemko of SI.com writes that Hackenberg blamed his lack of recent success to the change in coaching staffs. “Despite the fact that it’s probably true, you don’t want to hear a kid say that,” one source said.
  • The Vikings next big deal should be locking up safety Harrison Smith to a long-term contract, writes Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune. However, based on recent years, the writer doesn’t believe we’ll see any progress until training camp.

 

NFC North Notes: H. Smith, Lions, Packers

March 18th, 2016 at 10:01am CST by Luke Adams

It looks like a matter of when, not if, standout safety Harrison Smith will sign an extension with the Vikings, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Wolfson hears that talks between the two sides are expected to pick up before the end of the month.

Smith, 27, is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off his first Pro Bowl season. So far this offseason, most of the new deals signed by noteworthy safeties – including Malcolm Jenkins, Tashaun Gipson, Rodney McLeod, and George Iloka – have ranged from $6-9MM per year, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Smith exceed all of those when he eventually re-ups with the Vikings.

Here’s more from around the NFC North:

  • Free agent wide receiver and return man Jordan Norwood is paying a visit to the Lions today, per Mike Klis of 9NEWS (Twitter link). Norwood, who visited the Jets earlier this week, appeared in 11 regular-season games for the Broncos last season, amassing 22 receptions and 11 returns — he also set a new record for the longest punt return in a Super Bowl (61 yards).
  • With Russell Okung headed to Denver, the Lions may have to address the left tackle position via trade or in the draft, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Riley Reiff is currently penciled in as the starter, but some in the organization feel he’s better suited to play right tackle, and he’s only under contract for one more season anyway.
  • Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com offers one reason why Packers GM Ted Thompson may be mostly avoiding free agency in 2016, suggesting that Green Bay will need plenty of cap space a year from now for potential free agents like David Bakhtiari, T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton, and others.

Vikings GM Expects To Extend Harrison Smith

February 18th, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Luke Adams

Vikings safety Harrison Smith has played four years on his rookie deal, and is under contract for one more year due a fifth-year option. However, general manager Rick Spielman doesn’t expect Smith to be playing in a contract year in 2016, indicating today that he anticipates getting an extension done for the safety sometime in the not-too-distant future, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.Harrison Smith

Referring to Smith as one of the “better safeties” in the NFL, Spielman acknowledged with a chuckle that calling him one of the “best” might increase his price. Pro Football Focus, at least, viewed the 27-year-old as the league’s best safety in 2015, ranking him atop the site’s list of 88 qualified players at the position, despite the fact that he only played 13 games. Among safeties, Smith ranked in PFF’s top 10 in terms of pass coverage, run defense, and pass rush grades.

Smith, who earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015, is set to earn a base salary of $5.278MM in 2016. Any new deal figures to pay him an average annual salary worth much more than that. If the Vikings are willing to pay Smith like one of the NFL’s best safeties, that could mean per-year earnings in the $9-10MM range — Jairus Byrd, Devin McCourty, and Earl Thomas are all making salaries in that neighborhood, per Over the Cap. If Smith were to exceed $10MM per year, he’d surpass Thomas as the league’s highest-paid safety.

While a looming extension for Smith was perhaps the most noteworthy nugget that Spielman dropped today, he made a few more comments worth passing along, so let’s dive in…

  • Spielman indicated that 2016 will be a pivotal season for Cordarrelle Patterson to show he can be a wide receiver, which suggests Patterson will have a spot on the Vikings’ roster in the fall, tweets Goessling.
  • The Vikings don’t plan on bringing in any competition for kicker Blair Walsh, whose missed field goal on Wild Card weekend cost Minnesota a chance to beat the Seahawks and advance in the postseason (Twitter link via Goessling).
  • Defensive back Terence Newman doesn’t have a contract for 2016, and would be the NFL’s oldest defensive player if he decides not to retire, but Spielman believes Newman wants to play this year. As Goessling tweets, the GM added that he thinks Newman is a cornerback, not a safety.

NFC Notes: Brindza, Panthers, H. Smith

September 28th, 2015 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Buccaneers kicker Kyle Brindza had a rough day on Sunday, missing an extra point and three field goals as his team fell to the Texans by 10 points. However, head coach Lovie Smith stressed that the Bucs are sticking with Brindza, and don’t plan on auditioning any potential replacements this week, writes Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times.

“No. Kyle is our kicker,” Smith said. “He, like a lot of us, had a disappointing day. That hasn’t been the case. You’re going to have off days, and this was an off day.”

Here are a few more Monday odds and ends from around the NFC:

  • Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link) believes that the Panthers will eventually get cornerback Josh Norman locked up to an extension, though it will likely require an offer of $10MM+ per year, and will probably have to wait until the offseason. Norman reportedly turned down a contract offer worth about $7MM annually prior to the regular season.
  • Person (Twitter links) also passes along a pair of injury updates from Panthers head coach Ron Rivera, who says defensive end Charles Johnson has a hamstring issue and linebacker Thomas Davis has a pectoral injury. While Rivera doesn’t believe the Davis injury is serious, he says Johnson could be out for multiple weeks, and the club may look for outside help on the defensive line (Twitter links).
  • After picking up his fifth-year option for 2016, the Vikings decided to wait on signing safety Harrison Smith to a contract extension. As Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press observes (via Twitter), Smith’s price tag appears to be on the rise — through three weeks, the Vikings safety easily has the highest Pro Football Focus grade (+9.4) of anyone at the position.
  • Despite the Lions‘ offensive struggles so far this year, head coach Jim Caldwell hasn’t given consideration to taking over playcalling duties from OC Joe Lombardi, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.

North Notes: Browns, H. Smith, Steelers

July 30th, 2015 at 8:46am CST by Luke Adams

The 2015 season will likely be a redshirt year for rookie cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Browns head coach Mike Pettine said on Wednesday, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. At one point, Ekpre-Olomu, who continues to recover from a serious knee injury, was viewed as a potential first-round pick, but Cleveland snagged him in the seventh round in May following his torn ACL and disclocated knee. The Browns will have to wait until the end of training camp to move the Oregon alum to injured reserve if they want to avoid the risk of losing him on waivers.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

Extra Points: Rule Changes, Vikings, Galette

July 26th, 2015 at 8:24pm CST by Ben Levine

There will be new procedures during the 2015 season for monitoring and preparing footballs prior to games, reports Mike Pereira of FoxSports.com. As the writer notes, there will be revisions to “the number of footballs prepared, random testing and changes in the oversight of the footballs once they’ve been checked by officials.”

The “properties” of a football will remain the same, meaning the infamous ball pressure will still be required to fall between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI.

Some assorted notes from the around the league as we wrap up the weekend…

  • The Vikings are likely waiting a year until they try to extend safety Harrison Smith, tweets Chris Tomasson of St. Paul Pioneer Press. The writer notes that the organization prefers to hand out extensions during the final year of a player’s contract.
  • Some of Junior Galette‘s former teammates are standing by the linebacker. Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis is hopeful that another organization will give the embattled player a second chance. “You know, that’s a guy who I think is a good guy. Probably made a couple of bad decisions lately, but I don’t want people to judge him,” Lewis told Joel A. Erickson of the Black and Gold blog. “Give him a chance, give him an opportunity. Wish the best for him. Don’t talk down on him and say this guy’s that. Like they say, don’t ever judge a book from the first two pages. Always read the middle.”
  • Safety Kenny Vaccaro echoed that sentiment. “I really didn’t follow all the stuff closely,” Vaccaro said. “Junior’s a great player, he played his heart out every game. It’s unfortunate that we can’t have him, because he’s a great pass rusher.”

 

Vikings To Wait On Harrison Smith Extension

July 22nd, 2015 at 11:45am CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings won’t discuss an extension with Harrison Smith until after the season is through, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. The Vikings feel that there’s no rush to get a new pact done with Smith’s fifth-year option in tact.

The safety, who is under team control for just two more seasons, recently said that he’s not thinking about a contract extension.

“I’m really just focused on playing the best type of football I can. That stuff will work itself out,” Harrison said, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I’m happy to be here and happy to be a part of the Vikings, but all I’m thinking about right now is playing well in 2015.”

Whether it’s with the Vikings or someone else, Smith is primed to cash in big if his career stays on its current course. Smith totaled a career-best five interceptions in 2014, giving him 10 in three seasons, and earned a spot on Pro Football Focus’ All-Pro team. Since entering the league as the 29th overall pick in 2012, Smith has evolved into one of the NFL’s most effective free safeties — in 2014, he had his best year yet, compiling 92 tackles, five interceptions, and three sacks for the Vikes.

 

NFC Notes: Morris, Forte, Ross, Carr

June 19th, 2015 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Running back Alfred Morris is aware that his contract situation could become a subject of interest and speculation as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, but he tells Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com that he couldn’t care less about it.

“I approach every year the same,” Morris said. “I’m a running back so I’ll be running the ball, blocking, catching it. I don’t even think about next year.”

For the team’s part, Washington appears set to take a wait-and-see approach with Morris. Since he was a sixth-rounder in 2012, the running back’s contract doesn’t feature a fifth-year option for 2016, but Washington will have exclusive negotiating rights until next March.

Here’s more from around the NFC:

  • “It’s a hypocritical league,” Bears running back Matt Forte said of the NFL, in reference to his contract situation (link via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times). Forte is seeking an extension, and recognizes that if he hadn’t reported to the voluntary portion of Chicago’s offseason program, he would’ve been labeled selfish. “But then if, say, I didn’t perform last year and (the Bears) wanted to cut me or cut my pay, they can do that,” Forte said. “They can get rid of you. So nobody says nothing to the team about that.”
  • Former Giants defensive back Aaron Ross, who played 83 career NFL games for New York and Jacksonville, is aiming to return to action after missing last season with a torn Achilles, and has workouts lined up with the Rams and 49ers, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
  • Reports this offseason have indicated Brandon Carr isn’t interested in accepting a pay cut, but the Cowboys still hope to reduce the cornerback’s 2015 cap number, and owner Jerry Jones says there could be ways to do that that benefit Carr as well as the team, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News.
  • The Vikings are expected to explore a possible contract extension with safety Harrison Smith this offseason, but he tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that a new deal is “the furthest thing” from his mind at the moment. There’s no urgency for Smith or the Vikes, since his contract includes a fifth-year option for 2016.

North Notes: Steelers, Vikings, Bengals, Pack

June 18th, 2015 at 7:22pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A look at what’s happening in the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • The Steelers’ defense isn’t going to be one whose linemen merely occupy opposing blockers. Instead, new coordinator Keith Butler is encouraging them to attack the football, writes Ray Frager of CSNBaltimore.com.“Coach Buts said early on, ‘I’m not going to hold you back. I want the linebackers to fend for themselves. I expect you guys to make plays for yourself,” lineman Cameron Heyward said. Heyward added that he’s excited about Butler’s philosophy. “I’m salivating. I can’t wait until the season starts.”
  • The Packers have a breakout candidate in second-year wide receiver Davante Adams, who caught 38 passes during the regular season and added a seven-catch, 117-yard showing against Dallas in the playoffs. Head coach Mike McCarthy is excited about Adams’ output at minicamp. “Davante Adams, if you want a clear illustration and example of a first-year player taking a jump in his second year, you just saw it here the last four weeks,” McCarthy told the Associated Press. “Davante, if you wanted me to pick an MVP or an all-star (of the offseason), he would definitely be atop the list.”
  • Browns defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil wants more from third-year linebacker Barkevious Mingo, writes Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “He is going to have to compete for playing time on early downs. He’s going to have a role in our sub-packages,” said O’Neil, who did acknowledge that Mingo is the team’s best outside linebacker in coverage. Mingo’s role last year mainly focused on coverage, not rushing the passer, as he played through a torn labrum. Mingo has racked up just seven sacks since going sixth overall in the 2014 draft.
  • Vikings safety Harrison Smith is under team control for just two more seasons, but he’s not thinking about a contract extension. “I’m really just focused on playing the best type of football I can. That stuff will work itself out,” Harrison said Thursday, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I’m happy to be here and happy to be a part of the Vikings, but all I’m thinking about right now is playing well in 2015.” Whether it’s with the Vikings or someone else, Smith is primed to cash in big if his career stays on its current course. Smith totaled a career-best five interceptions in 2014, giving him 10 in three seasons, and earned a spot on Pro Football Focus’ All-Pro team.
  • Two of Harrison’s fellow Vikings defenders, end Brian Robison and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, expect to be ready for training camp in July after suffering offseason injuries, per the Pioneer Press’ Brian Murphy.
  • Bengals wideout Marvin Jones impressed as an NFL sophomore in 2013, amassing 51 catches and 10 touchdowns, before missing all of last season with ankle and foot injuries. Healthy again, ESPN’s Coley Harvey writes that the 2012 second-round pick is returning to form. “You’re starting to see a play here, a play there of the old Marv, and the quickness, suddenness and explosiveness,” Bengals receivers coach James Urban said.
  • The performance of backup quarterback A.J. McCarron in spring workouts greatly impressed the Bengals and helped convince them to release Terrelle Pryor on Thursday, writes Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “If he can do what he did here live, that will be the next step,” said quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese. Head coach Marvin Lewis expressed similar sentiment regarding the 2014 fifth-round pick and three-time national champion from the University of Alabama. “I’m pleased with his ability to handle the huddle, to handle the team. These nine practices have been awesome for him,” Lewis said.
  • Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco heaped praise on second-year receiver Jeremy Butler, who stood out at the team’s minicamp. “He was incredible. He caught the ball extremely well,” said Flacco, according to the Baltimore Sun’s Aaron Wilson. “He’s just a big, strong body and catches the ball really well. It’s exactly what he showed last year in training camp, I thought, and he’s just coming out here and doing more of that.” Butler went undrafted out of Tennessee-Martin in 2014 and missed his entire rookie season because of a shoulder injury.
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