Towards the end of the Welcome to Free Agency press conference on Thursday, Executive Vice President / General Manager Howie Roseman was asked about his approach during this time list building period, with the team having a margin of maneuver. limited within the $ 182.5 million salary cap. Could eagles be spenders? What would they look for when the first wave of headline hires came and went?
“We are looking for guys who we think fit our scheme, who we think fit our culture, and who have the opportunity to be here while we build this back,” said Roseman. “If there is an opportunity to improve our team, we will look at this. We will continue to do this. I would say that if the adjustment is right, we will do it.”
Two days later, the Eagles found the right “fit” in the security position, agreeing with veteran Anthony Harris’ terms on a one-year contract. He has a chance to win significant playing time, as Rodney McLeod is rehabilitating a broken anterior cruciate ligament in last December’s victory over New Orleans and the other incumbent, Jalen Mills, has signed with New England. as a free agency.
Harris is a baller, having started the last three seasons in Minnesota – the final nine games of the 2018 season, all 14 games he played in 2019, when Harris recorded six interceptions to tie for the league leadership and 16 games in the 2020 campaign Harris is familiar with the concepts that Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon will employ – Gannon trained in Minnesota as a defensive quality control technician and assistant secondary coach from 2014-2017 and helped develop Harris – and he should be able to to help translate the defensive scheme into the rest of the defense.
Not recruited in 2015 from Virginia, where he was McLeod’s teammate in 2011 and, in fact, pursued a similar career, Harris started his time in Minnesota on the training team before his promotion to the active squad in December of that season. Harris worked with Gannon after suffering a shoulder injury in college, a likely reason that Harris was not drafted. For much of the debut season, Harris built his body strength and plunged into the scheme.
Harris’ intelligence helped him learn to defend, as he fully embraced the team’s culture and his versatility impressed the coaching staff. Slowly but surely, Harris was gaining the trust of the technical team, working with Gannon in its development.
The 2019 season was Harris’ decisive year. He has been around football all season with six interceptions and adding 11 defended passes. He recorded the best total of 60 tackles at the time and was the leader in the Vikings’ defense that allowed only 18.9 points per game, ranking fifth in the league. Minnesota drew fifth in the league with 49 quarterback sacks and was fourth in the league with 31 takeaways in total. Harris and fellow security guard Harrison Smith teamed up to become one of the best security teammates in the league.